Quiz #86 - Love/Hate "Wasted in America"

Just a small hint there, you still have to earn those presents...

UPDATED:



Heavy metal band Love/Hate was initially formed as Data Clan in 1984 by vocalist Jizzy Pearl, guitarist Jon E. Love, bassist Skid Rose and drummer Joey Gold. The band recorded one album before Pearl left to sing with L.A. Rocks; Data Clan replaced him with Jim Wilkinson and changed their name to Love/Hate. By 1987, however, Pearl returned and after playing around Los Angeles for a year, Love/Hate signed with Columbia.

The group's debut album "Blackout in the Red Room" was released in March 1990. Two singles from the album — the title track and "Why Do You Think They Call It Dope?" — received some airplay on commercial radio and MTV, but by 1992's Wasted in America, heavy metal had become commercially passé and Columbia dropped them soon after its release. Love/Hate moved to the Caliber label and released "Let's Rumble" in May 1994, an album much rawer than their previous material. Another label switch, to Mayhem Records, resulted in October 1995's "I'm Not Happy". 1999 saw the release of "Let's Eat".

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Love/Hate "Wasted in America"
Album "Wasted in America" - 1992

Kicking off with perhaps their best single yet, Wasted in America's title track propels Love/Hate into what initially promises to be another amphetamine-fueled romp through hard-rock excess. This promise soon turns to disappointment, however, as the subsequent songs lack the focus of the band's once fabulously straightforward sound. If anything, Love/Hate is guilty of trying to cover too much ground, and pieces like "Spit," "Happy Hour," and "Yucca Man" alternate reliably catchy choruses with strangely jagged, off-kilter verses. The result is more disjointed than exciting, and further attempts at creepy atmospherics ("Cream," "Don't be Afraid") and acoustic forays "Don't Fuck With Me," "Social Sidewinder" are more amusing than interesting. Of the remaining tracks, the only real winning moments arrive with the interesting dynamics of "Time's Up" and the pop hooks of "Miss America." Hardly a bad album, Wasted in America simply leaves a lot to be desired when compared to its predecessor.

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