Description
Chalk this up as an unexpected pleasure. Take one ex-hair metal frontman, one alt-rock chick, one ex-Smashing Pumpkin, and a guitar player who’s worked with all of them, and you get a rather unlikely supergroup. The Last Hard Men is comprised of Sebastian Bach (from Skid Row), Kelley Deal (from The Breeders), Jimmy Chamberlin (from Smashing Pumkins), and Jimmy Flemion (from The Frogs). Recorded in 1996-97 in the Pachyderm Studios of Minneasota — apparently when none of the participants had anything better to do — this record is an odd mix-up of styles which sat around in major-label development hell for years. For a group originally formed for a one-off recording of the Alice Cooper track ‘School’s Out’ to the soundtrack of Scream, you get an interesting mixture of sensibilities and an entire album’s worth of material. You have some acoustic pop/rock tunes, some tracks resembling Breeders outtakes, and smattering of other things: alt-rock, samba, heavy metal, odd interviews with the various members conducted over what sounds like a walkie-talkie. Disparate though it is, Sebastian Bach’s production holds everything together (including his own restrained vocals) so that each stylistic difference — both in musical and musician-wise — contributes to the whole. The result is a fine record, and that’s the best thing a one-off can hope for. There’s an off track or two (‘Sleep’), but nothing too much to take away from the overall quality. The band members seem to be aware of the singular nature of their experiment. Near the end of the album, over an unsteady and somewhat timid piano, we’re treated to some conversation. ‘Is it rock enough?’ asks Kelley, to which Jimmy responds, ‘Define rock’. This one and only album was recorded for Atlantic records, who then optioned not to release it. In 1998, it was released on Kelley Deal’s label, Nice Records, with no fanfare and a very limited pressing of 1000 cds, which may have been sold via mail order only. It was re-released on Spitfire Records in 2001.
Track listing:
1. Sebastian Bach Interview
2. Sleep
3. Schools Out-Alice Cooper cover
4. Kelley Deal Interview
5. The Last Hard Men
6. Who Made You Do It?
7. Candy Comes
8. The Most Powerful Man in the World
9. That Very Night
10. Play in the Clouds
11. Satans in the Manager
12. In Search of the Peace of Mind
13. Fan Mail
14. Jimmy Chamberlin Interview
15. I Enjoy Being a Girl
16. Spider Love
17. When the Longing Goes Away
18. I Hate the Way You Walk
19. Jimmy Flemion Interview
20. If You Want to Rock, Go to the Quarry
21. Baby, I’m King
22. Final Interview
23. Who Made You Do It? [V. 2]