Search - Last Hard Men :: Last Hard Men

A mixed bag

James Behrens | Del Mar, CA United States | 09/23/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Warning: If you are a Skid Row fan looking for godawful hair metal, there's not much here that you'll like (except maybe track 2). I suspect that's why there are two 1-star reviews posted here so far. My mail order copy came with a note: "File under Sebastian Bach". While Bach (nominally) produced it, it should probably be filed under The Frogs.The prolific Jimmy Flemion wrote most of these songs. As one half of the Frogs, he's penned albums full of songs that are funny, crude, offensive, and catchy as hell. He has collaborated with Pearl Jam and appears on Mellon Collie-era Smashing Pumpkins B-Sides (as well as touring with the Sebastian Bach band). His contributions to the album are similar sonically to latter-day Frogs, sort of like the Beatles with fuzzier guitars.Kelly Deal took a hiatus from the Breeders in the mid-90s, going through rehab and forming a group called the Kelly Deal 6000. Jimmy Flemion contributed to a few of her album tracks, and when Deal tracked down Bach to collaborate on the "School's Out" cover, Flemion was brought in and they extended their studio time to record enough material for a full-length.Jimmy Chamberlin plays drums (in lieu of the unavailable Tommy Lee). Although released in 2001, the album was recorded in 1997, during his drug-problem-induced estrangement from the Smashing Pumpkins. His drums are lower in the mix here than on Pumpkins discs, but you'll recognize his jazzy rolls and syncopated rhythms. (A sidenote: during these sessions, the other Frog and Jimmy's brother Dennis Flemion was employed as the touring keyboardist for the Pumpkins, replacing the late Jonathan Melvoin, who fatally OD'd while shooting up in a Manhattan hotel room with Chamberlin).From this unlikely summit comes an uneven album. I've never been a fan of Skid Row, but Bach's classically trained, clear steady voice is tolerable at worst, and occasionally really pleasant. Deal's vocals are generally good, and her songwriting contributions are straightforward indie-pop.My favorite songs are the sequential The Most Powerful Man in the World, That Very Night, and Play in the Clouds. The Last Hard Men is worth buying just for That Very Night - an irresistable melodic duet between Flemion and Deal.There are a few unfocused clunkers here, but that's usually the case when a group tries to push outside the limits of a genre and experiment with disparate styles. All in all, this odd rock-n-roll footnote is worth a few dollars and a few spins."