POISON

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Poison is an American glam metal band that achieved success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. To date, the band has sold more than 25 million records worldwide, including 14.5 million in the United States alone. After 25 years, the band is still recording music and performing.

Poison was formed in 1983 under the name Paris and consisted of lead vocalist Bret Michaels, guitarist Matt Smith, bassist Bobby Dall, and drummer Rikki Rockett. Moving to Los Angeles on March 6, 1984, they started playing big clubs and several other clubs. The name Poison was picked by the band after seeing Spinal Tap.

During this period, Poison's manager negotiated a deal under which the West Hollywood club, The Troubador, would pay for shows.At this time, Smith left the band to return home to Pennsylvania, which led to an audition session that was won by C.C. DeVille.

Michaels, Dall, Rockett and DeVille signed to independent label Enigma Records in 1986 (see 1986 in music) for approximately $30,000. Their debut album, Look What the Cat Dragged In, was released August 2, 1986

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Poison - Look What The Cat Dragged In (1986)

Though not a success at first, the album steadily built momentum and peaked at #3 on the charts on May 23, 1987. The album spawned four singles, three of them charting successfully: "Talk Dirty to Me", "I Want Action", "I Won't Forget You", and "Cry Tough". The album is a prime example of the glam metal genre both musically and image-wise. The album ultimately has sold more than 3.5 million copies worldwide, one of their bests sold albums.

Tracks:
01. Cry Tough
02. I Want Action
03. I Won't Forget You
04. Play Dirty
05. Look What The Cat Dragged In
06. Talk Dirty To Me
07. Want Some, Need Some
08. Blame it On you
09. No.1 Bad Boy
10. Let Me Go to The Show

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Poison - Open Up And Say... Ahh! (1988)

The second studio album of Poison, released in 1988 through the Enigma label of Capitol Records. The album, which ultimately sold eight million copies worldwide, proved to be the band's most successful release. It spawned four hit singles, which are "Nothin' but a Good Time", "Your Mama Don't Dance", "Fallen Angel", and their only number one single to date, "Every Rose Has Its Thorn". The album is widely considered a classic in the glam metal genre.

Open Up and Say... Ahh! reflects a style commonly characterised as glam metal, a form of heavy metal which had its genesis on the East Coast of the United States (and, in particular, the sound of New York City band Kiss), but which was transplanted to the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, California in the 1980s. However, the album contains less of a heavy metal influence than a typical glam metal album, rather being more traditional rock and roll-based. The west-coast influence is reflected more prominently on the album than on its predecessor, Look What the Cat Dragged In, with aspects of Van Halen styled Californian stadium rock becoming increasingly apparent.

The album was recorded and mixed at Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles. Paul Stanley from KISS (whose song "Rock and Roll All Nite" had been covered by Poison the year before) was originally selected to produce the record, but was unable to fulfill the role due to scheduling conflicts. Instead, the band worked with Tom Werman. Werman was an experienced rock producer, having worked with artists such as Ted Nugent, Cheap Trick, Twisted Sister, and M�tley Cr�e.

The original front cover of the album, which featured model "Bambi" dressed as a luminous red demon with a protruding tongue (similar to Gene Simmons of Kiss), caused controversy amongst church and parental groups. In previous U.S. releases, the album was released with a censored cover in which most of the model�s face was obscured. The 2006 remastered CD release features the original cover art.

Tracks:
01. Love on The Rocks
02. Nothin' But A Good Time
03. Back To The Rocking Horse
04. Good Love
05. Tearin' Down The Walls
06. Look But You Can't Touch
07. Fallen Angel
08. Every Rose Has It's Thorn
09. Your Mama Don't Dance
10. Bad To Be Good

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Poison - Flesh & Blood (1990)

Their 3rd studio album released in 1990 through the Enigma label of Capitol Records. The album peak at #2 on the Billboard charts and it sold over 7 million copies worldwide. The album spawned two top 10 singles: "Unskinny Bop" and "Something to Believe In", as well as three other hit singles: "Ride The Wind", "Life Goes On", and "(Flesh & Blood) Sacrifice".

Tracks:
01 - Strange Days of Uncle Jack
02 - Valley of Lost Souls
03 - Sacrifice (Flesh & Blood)
04 - SwampJuice - (Soul O)
05 - Unskinny Bop
06 - Let It Play
07 - Life Goes On
08 - Come Hell or High Water
09 - Ride the Wind
10 - Don't Give Up An Inch
11 - Something to Believe In
12 - Ball and Chain
13 - Life Loves A Tragedy
14 - Poor Boy Blues

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Poison - Swallow This (Live) - (1991)

Tracks: Disc 1
01. Intro
02. Look What the Cat Dragged In
03. Look But You Can't Touch
04. Let It Play
05. Good Love
06. Life Goes On
07. Ride the Wind
08. I Want Action
09. Drum Solo
10. Something to Believe In
11. Poor Boy Blues
12. Unskinny Bop

Tracks: Disc 2
01. Love On The Rocks
02. Guitar Solo
03. Every Rose Has Its ThornPoison Live
04. Fallen Angel
05. You Mama Don’t Dance
06. Nothin’ But A Good Time
07. Talk Dirty To Me
08. So Tell Me Why
09. Souls On Fire
10. Only Time Will Tell
11. No More Lookin’ Back (Poison Jazz)

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Poison - Native Tongue (1993)
Their 4th Studio album released in 1993 through Capitol Records. It peak at #16 on the Billboard 200 and was certified Gold by the RIAA on April 21, 1993.

01. Native Tongue (1:01)
02. The Scream (3:49)
03. Stand (5:15)
04. Stay Alive (4:23)
05. Until You Suffer Some (Fire And Ice) (4:14)
06. Body Talk (4:01)
07. Bring it Home (3:55)
08. 7 Days Over You (4:13)
09. Richie's Acoustic Thang (0:56)
10. Ain't That the Truth (3:25)
11. Theatre of the Soul (4:41)
12. Strike Up the Band (4:15)
13. Ride Child Ride (3:53)
14. Blind Faith (3:32)
15. Bastard Son of a Thousand Blues (4:57)

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Poison - Crack a Smile... and More! (2000)

Their 5th studio album released on March 14, 2000 and peaked at #131 on The Billboard 200. The life cycle of Crack a Smile, which began in 1994, was brought to an abrupt halt in May 1994, when vocalist Bret Michaels lost control of his Ferrari. Michaels suffered a broken nose, ribs, jaw, and fingers and lost four teeth.

After his recovery in 1995, the band continued recording. To the band's dismay, however, Capitol Records had by this time decided to put the album "on the back burner", and instead released a Greatest Hits record. It was not until March 14, 2000 that the record was finally released. The album's eventual release was prompted by strong fan demand, with promotional copies and bootlegs selling for $50 or more.

Tracks:
01. Best Thing You Ever Had – 4:18
02. Shut Up, Make Love – 3:52
03. Baby Gets Around a Bit – 3:37
04. Cover of the Rolling Stone (Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show cover) – 3:09
05. Be the One – 5:39
06. Mr. Smiley – 2:42
07. Sexual Thing – 3:37
08. Lay Your Body Down– 5:27
09. No Ring, No Gets – 3:26
10. That's the Way (I Like It) – 3:39
11. Tragically Unhip – 2:54
12. Doin' as I Seen on My TV – 2:52
13. One More for the Bone (Outtake track) – 3:18
14. Set You Free (Outtake track) – 3:56
15. Crack a Smile (Unfinished Demo) – 3:46

BONUS TRACKS (C.C. DeVille on acoustic guitar).
01. Face the Hangman (Outtake from Open Up and Say... Ahh!) – 3:20,
02. Your Mama Don't Dance (Live on MTV Unplugged) – 3:13,
03. Every Rose Has Its Thorn (Live on MTV Unplugged) – 4:37,
04. Unskinny Bop (Live on MTV Unplugged) – 4:02,
05. Talk Dirty to Me (Live on MTV Unplugged) – 4:05


NOTE:
The album featured guitarist Blues Saraceno. Saraceno was hired as the band's guitarist following the firing of Richie Kotzen. Like Kotzen, Saraceno was given considerable creative freedom. Indeed, Saraceno's writing and performing contributions dominated the album.

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Poison - Power To The People (2000)

Released on June 13, 2000 on the band's independent label, Cyanide Music. It marked the return of the original lineup, togeather for the first time since 1991's Swallow This Live with the return of C.C. DeVille who replaced Blues Saraceno. The album is a half studio, half live album consisting of five newly-recorded studio tracks and 12 live tracks from Poison's successful 1999-2000 Comeback tour. The album charted at #166 on the Billboard Hot 200. The album was re-packaged and re-released in 2006 as Great Big Hits Live! Bootleg without the studio tracks or drum and guitar solos. (Live hits only version).

Tracks:
01. Power to the People
02. Can't Bring Me Down
03. The Last Song
04. Strange
05. I Hate Every Bone In Your Body But Mine [with C.C. DeVille on lead vocals]
06. Intro/Look What the Cat Dragged In (Live)
07. I Want Action (Live)
08. Something to Believe In (Live)
09. Love on the Rocks (Live)10. C.C. (Solo) (Live)
11. Fallen Angel (Live)
12. Let It Play (Live)
13. Rikki (Solo) (Live)
14. Every Rose Has Its Thorn (Live)
15. Unskinny Bop (Live)
16. Nothin' But a Good Time (Live)
17. Talk Dirty to Me (Live)

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Poison - Hollyweird (2002)

Tracks:
01. Hollyweird
02. Squeeze Box
03. Shooting Star
04. Wishful Thinking
05. Get 'Ya Some
06. Emperor's New Clothes
07. Devil Woman
08. Wasteland
09. Livin' In The Now
10. Stupid, Stoned & Dumb
11. Home (Bret's Story)
12. Home (C.C.'s Story)
13. Rockstar (Bonus Track)

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Poison - Poisond (2007)

Tracks:
01. Little Willy [Sweet cover] 3:18
02. Suffragette City [David Bowie cover] 2:57
03. I Never Cry [Alice Cooper cover] 3:33
04. I Need To Know [Tom Petty cover] 2:21
05. Can’t You See [The Marshall Tucker Band cover] 4:57
06. What I Like About You [The Romantics cover] 2:59
07. Dead Flowers [Rolling Stones cover] 4:21
08. Just What I Needed [The Cars cover] 3:36
09. Rock ‘N Roll All Night [KISS cover] 3:35
10. Squeeze Box [The Who cover] 2:30
11. You Don’t Mess Around With Jim (1986 Demo) [Jim Croce cover] 3:06
12. Your Momma Don’t Dance [Loggins & Messina cover] 3:01
13. We’re An American Band [Grandfunk Railroad cover] 3:09
14. Sexy Back [Justin Timberlake cover] 3:34 (Bonus)

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Poison - Live, Raw & Uncut (2008)

A music dvd/cd combo from the Hard rock band Poison, released in July 15, 2008 for their summer tour. It sold around 2,400 copies in its first week of release to debut at position No. 8 on Billboard's Top Music Videos chart. The cd is Poison's first full live cd, the previous live cd Swallow This Live included studio tracks and Power to the People was considered a half live, half studio album."Live, Raw & Uncut" features 14 live Poison hits from their 2007 tour. The dvd is a live concert from 2007, recorded at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in St. Louis, Missouri, in support of their 2007 cover album Poison'd."Live, Raw & Uncut" also includes a photo gallery and behind the scenes footage. The dvd features a slightly different track list to the cd, containing four extra tracks.

Tracks:
01. Intro
02. Look What the Cat Dragged In
03. I Want Action
04. Ride the Wind
05. I Won't Forget You
06. C.C.'s Guitar Solo
07. I Hate Every Bone In Your Body But Mine
08. Something To Believe In
09. Rikki's Drum Solo
10. Unskinny Bop
11. Every Rose Has Its Thorn
12. Fallen Angel
13. Talk Dirty to Me
14. Nothin' but a Good Time

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Poison - Seven Days Live (2008)

Released August 26, 2008 on Armoury Records. The timing for the release of this CD is unfortunate. Barely a month ago the far superior Live, Raw & Uncut live CD/DVD was released by a different record label. - releasing two different live CDs in a month is a bit of hair metal overload.
Seven Days Live is the CD version of a 1993 concert recorded in London. It was originally released on DVD in 2006 and on VHS back in 1993. At the time C.C. Deville was not in the band, and Richie Kotzen was Poison's guitarist. For some reason, they chopped five songs from the original concert that were on the DVD, but not on this CD.

The 10 songs (plus a drum solo) on Seven Days Live include Poison's biggest hits such as "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," "Talk Dirty To Me" and "Unskinny Bop." The sound quality is decent, although the background vocals are sometimes a little shaky.

Tracks:
01. Ride The Wind
02. Something to Believe In
03. Stand
04. Fallen Angel
05. Look What The Cat Dragged In
06. Drum Solo
07. Until You Suffer Some Fire and Ice
08. Unskinny Bop
09. Talk Dirty To Me
10. Every Rose Has It's Thorn
11. Nothin' But a Good Time

NOTE:
Seven Days Live is the only recording of the Richie Kotzen era.

Dio is an American heavy metal band led by vocalist Ronnie James Dio, who formed it in 1982 after leaving Black Sabbath. In an interview, available on the special edition re-release of Holy Diver, Dio states that he never intended to begin a solo career. His intention was to form a new band with fellow former Black Sabbath member, drummer Vinny Appice. Naming the band Dio made sense from a commercial standpoint, as the name was already well-known at that time.

In 1982, disagreements originating over the mixing of Black Sabbath's Live Evil resulted in the departure of Ronnie James Dio and Vinny Appice from the band.[2] Wanting to continue together as a band, the two formed Dio in October 1982 in the United States. The following May, the band released their debut album, Holy Diver. It featured two hit singles, "Rainbow in the Dark" and "Holy Diver", which gained popularity from MTV. Ronnie James Dio and Jimmy Bain played keyboards in the studio, but recruited keyboardist Claude Schnell for live shows in 1984.