Description

Cut out Official Usa tape. Clear cassette with grey texture. Catalogue number: 7 82073-4 Baton Rouge is an American hard rock band from Louisiana led by singer Kelly Keeling and featuring Lance Bulen (guitar), David Cremin (keyboards), Scott Bender (bass), and Corky McClellan (drums). They rode in on the final hair wave, injecting just a hint of funk (not enough to make a difference). Unlike the band's innovative brethren in Faith No More or even Extreme, Baton Rouge concentrates on nothing more challenging than the age-old concept of girls, girls, and more girls; this limited paradigm considerably constricted the group's commercial impact in the angst-ridden 90s, but sure makes Shake Your Soul a fun spin. The big-bang production, shot through with crystal keyboards, conjures bands like Warrant that hurt hairs credibility, as well as talented units like T-Ride that suffered thereafter. Anyone with a passing interest in party metal will enjoy connecting the dots: Doctor burns to the bone, Young Hearts apes Rod Stewart (or is it Axe), and lead huffer Kelly Keeling's Hagar-isms are impossible to ignore on Babys So Cool and radio flash Walks Like a Woman (which strategically name-checks the album). There Was a Time quotes REO and Bryan Adams (or are these phrases just so trite the source is lost forever?) plus the almighty Aerosmith. The quintet even cops to cliché-wielding when showing a softer side in It's About Time. Most telling, Melenie actually derives from misunderstood maestro Wingers Madalaine. None of the above tunes, nor the powers of Jack Ponti (whose mighty micro-movement also included Alice Cooper and China Rain), made Shake Your Soul anything more than a fading footnote in the history of hair, but nothing's wrong with wanting nothing but a good time. Track listing: 1. Doctor 2. Walks Like a Woman 3. Big Trouble 4. Its About Time 5. Bad Time Comin Down 6. The Midge 7. Babys So Cool 8. Young Hearts 9. Melenie 10. There Was a Time (The Storm) 11. Hot Blood Movin 12. Spread Like Fire