In the midst of the madness that was the hair metal explosion of the '80s,
Rough Cutt became one of those bands that time gently buried underneath the weight of music's evolution. Washing ashore in 2005 thanks to Wounded Bird, the first two
Rough Cutt records have been reissued and remastered on one disc. Essentially the group's entire recorded works,
Rough Cutt/Rough Cutt Wants You! presents the band in all of its unapologetic bombast and excess, complete with pyrotechnics. Fierce rockers with blazing guitar solos are shuffled in between midtempo songs and the gratuitous eerie power ballad for the duration of the 20 songs. The music really isn't anything groundbreaking or earth shattering, and after a while can become exhausting to listen to if you're not in the proper mindset to rock out. But for those who like their hair metal with a lot of polish (but not too much; there's still a bit of grit in the glam and a bit of sand in the eye makeup) and are searching for gems that may have been overlooked, this will certainly do the trick. ~ Rob Theakston