"She's my cherry pie…" You've all heard it. Def Leppard's Joe Elliott couldn't believe it (compare this track to Leppard super-anthem "Pour Some Sugar on Me") and grungers hated it… Still, there's no taking away from Warrant's good points.

Is there any doubt that they're a hair metal band? None whatsoever. A cursory glance over the lyrics to Cherry Pie or a look at some circa-1989 promotional photos should leave you with no questions as to the hairiness of their metal.

What happened then? Warrant were yet another band to come out of the LA scene, several years after the original wave of bands that included the big boys Motley Crue, Ratt, Poison, and Stryper. Their cunning self-promotion and magical live performances made them LA's hottest unsigned act, and Columbia wasted no time in snapping them up to a record deal. Warrant debuted in 1988, which was about the last year any hair metal bands managed to break big (although Slaughter and Firehouse were giving it valiant efforts as late as 1990). Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich was hardly original, with all the trademarks of the genre and shameless nods in Def Leppard's direction. Nevertheless, the quality of songs set them above the rest and their relentless touring plus a canny radio single in "Down Boys" ensured it was a hit. Then came, you guessed it, a power ballad. "Heaven" rose to number 2 on the Billboard charts as sales of DRFSR went through the roof. Of course, with the bands typical hair metal image and sound, they lacked credibility, but few hair metal bands, if any, have ever actually been well received by the press. Cherry Pie, released in 1991, featured a tongue-in-cheek title track written by band leader and main song writer Jani Lane in just 45 mintues to complete the album. It was an enormous hit, with the ahem, rather dodgy video receiving copious amounts of MTV airplay. Naturally, this did nothing to help journalists' cynicism, and the video attracted plenty of controversy. Nevertheless, Cherry Pie was another multi-platinum album for the band, lesser hits "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and "I Saw Red" helped their image somewhat.
      In an attempt to stay cool, Dog Eat Dog attempted a heavier sound and wasn't bad, but only went Gold in the USA. Subsequent albums (which have been commercial flops) have shown them trying their hand at alternative and grunge, so perhaps when they were doing hair metal it was all just jumping on a bandwagon. Still, Greatest and Latest was an album of remakes of their best songs, with some new tracks more in the style of their classic sound.  These tracks were said to be there to "hold fans over" until the next full length Warrant release… The next Warrant release, however, was a covers album with, you guessed it, a couple of new tracks to "hold fans over." So really, you have to wonder if there will ever be another Warrant album… and if there is, will it have the sound of their glory days?

Were they any good? Yeah… oh yeah, definitely. They weren't original or anything but Jani Lane is such an accomplished songwriter with a total grasp of riffs, structure, and hooks to make great songs. If you like melodic rock old or new at all then you should definitely be able to get down with "Downboys", "Sometimes She Cries", "Cherry Pie", or "Thin Disguise". If not, well, visit your doctor.

Best album? No one in their right mind will argue that it's anything other than Cherry Pie or Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich. If they do, beat them up. As for which one is better, well, it's down to you but I've selected DRFSR. It opens with "32 Pennies" which isn't the kind of start you might hope for, but tracks like the blistering title track, "Big Talk", "Downboys", and moving ballads like "Sometimes She Cries" and "Heaven" ensure its status as a hair metal classic. There's nothing special about it other than great songwriting, but for a suitably fun, meaningless, and energetic romp through the world of pop metal in all its big-backing-vocal-choruses glory, then this is great.

What sucked about them? Well, it's very suspicious that Warrant played hair metal when it was in fashion, grunge when that was in fashion, released a greatest hits when things were dry, and then went back to hair metal as soon as it showed signs of making some kind of a comeback… hmmm… You don't think they're in it for the money, do you? And in terms of musicianship, they're really not very good. I mean by heavy metal standards. Remember the eighties were a decade dominated by incredible virtuosos like Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Joe Satriani, George Lynch, Stu Hamm, and Billy Sheehan. And yeah, don't bother giving me your "feel is more important than technique" rant. I've heard it and I agree but if a musician can't play something complicated if the situation calls for it, he is not good enough. Compared to most bands of the nineties, however, Warrant were geniuses.

Band rating: 87%

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