Search - Jetboy :: Damned Nation

FEEL THE SHAKE!

Marseagle | Hollywood, California | 09/29/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"JETBOY were one of the five main bands signd in the mid 80's L.A. sleaze-glam-hard rock scene along with Guns N Roses, Faster Pussycat, Poison, and L.A. Guns. All 5 are considered the A list bands. Unfortunatley JETBOY's first album FEEL THE SHAKE was delayed a year due to record company politics. Sadly these guys missed the window all the other bands got during that scenes initial media storm, and got left behind to struggle for attention in the wake of the B level bands that got signed in the wake of Guns N Roses massive sucess. JETBOY didn't sound like those bands, but none of them sounded alike they just all came from the same scene that incorporated glam, hard rock, a little metal, and blues. JETBOY was more bluesy than all the other, but they rocked just as hard. DAMNED NATION I feel is better than their debut disc FEEL THE SHAKE, which is great by the way. Thier debut was a bit more polished and slick, but it still rocked. DAMNED NATION though kicked these guys into overdrive. The songs are a little rawer, dirtier, and have a better groove to them. This album has the same feel that Guns N' Roses sleazy classic Appetite for Destruction, L.A. Guns self Titled album, and Faster Pussycat's first album has. Just pure hard rock sleazy musical perfection. The opening track STOMP IT DOWN (TO THE BRICKS) starts off with a nice guitar part then slams into a great rocking riff and chorus. The rockers on the record like GROOVE TUBE, HEAVY CHEVY, EVIL, ROCK N' ROLLER and others are excellent hard rock songs that deserved massive exposure. Their one ballad TOO LATE is a beautiful song that isn't a typical sappy crossover song, but a great expression of past mistakes, lost love, and regret. There isn't a bad song on his CD. The whole CD rocks with a swagger and feel like you and your buddies are hanging out in a smokey biker bar, shooting pool, drinking whiskey, getting in a fist fight, and making out with a hot sexy broad in the corner by the jukebox. JETBOY deserved to be as big as all those other bands like Guns N Roses, Poison, L.A. Guns, and Faster Pussycat cause they put out 2 solid CD's which only hinted at their enormous talent as musicians and songwriters. Sadly they got dropped by their label after this record and never secured another one. You STUPID STUPID record companies, I spit on you! Luckily they have released 3 CD's of unreleased songs, B-side tracks, and bonus tracks on independent labels. Those are great to add to your collection of JETBOY music. Get them too. This CD is one of those undiscovered classic hard rock albums that sadly got buried underneath all the crummy copycat bands that came out in the late 80's and early 90's before grunge wrecked everything in music and sent it into a pit of god awful mopey PC crummy flannel covered dreck. JETBOY and DAMNED NATION will sit along side G N R's Appetite, L.A. Guns S/T, Ratt's Out of the Cellar, Faster Pussycat's S/T debut, and Motley Crue's too fast For Love as masterpieces of the L.A. hard rock scene. Buy this CD, play it loud, and play it proud. Once you've heard JETBOY you will become a fan and scoop up all their CD's. Then you'll kick yourself for not being a fan back in the day. Come back JETBOY!"

It's good, but not THAT good

Justin Gaines | Northern Virginia | 10/15/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I hate to disagree with such an obviously passionate reviewer, but Jetboy's second album Damned Nation is not a 5-star album, nor should it be considered anywhere near as important as the Guns n' Roses and L.A. Guns albums he mentioned. It's probably not even as good as Jetboy's 1988 debut Feel The Shake.



That said; Damned Nation is still a totally enjoyable hair metal album, and Jetboy was a perfectly solid hair metal band. I'll agree that the band was not given any real promotion from their record label, but even if they did, they still wouldn't have lasted past the grunge invasion of the early 90's. Essentially the band, which featured former Hanoi Rocks bassist Sam Yaffa, played a slightly bluesier version of the Hollywood hair metal that was so popular at the time. Their sound and image were equal parts Poison, Faster Pussycat, and perhaps Junkyard.



It's nothing you haven't heard before, but it's still plenty of fun to listen to. I may not have grown up in the Hollywood hair scene, but I love the music enough to know that while Jetboy is certainly a fun band to hear, they're far from the best this genre had to offer. If you're a serious fan of the Hollywood hair metal scene, you'll want to check Jetboy out, though I'd recommend starting with Feel the Shake."