Kix – Blow My Fuse (1984/2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Kix – Blow My Fuse (1984/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 40:53 minutes | 1,45 GB | Genre: Hard Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Rhino Atlantic

By the time Kix had recorded this, their fourth album, all eyes in the Hard Rock biospace were upon them as a band expected to rise up from the ranks to achieve success and exert influence. Certainly their record label Atlantic Records believed in the band enough to steer them towards not one, but three top notch producers; that’s Tom Werman (Mötley Crüe, Cheap Trick, Ted Nugent) together with the dynamic duo of Duane Barron and John Purdell (Ozzy Osbourne, Dream Theater). Recorded in Los Angeles and issued in August 1988, the record was immediately heralded as the best Kix album so far, with critics pointing out the quality of songs and a refinement of their trademark rough and tumble sound.

By 1988, Kix had only managed to squeeze out three modest-selling records for Atlantic Records. Led in tandem by the endearing frontman Steve Whiteman and chief songwriter and bassist Donnie Purnell, for years, Kix would be unfairly categorized as a supposed “hair band.” Worse still, Whiteman would later wake up to find his dancing-on-my-tippy-toes stage act (just think Steven Tyler meets Johnny Thunders on uppers) stolen and carbon copied for the masses by a host of other inferior frontmen including Poison’s Brett Michaels. After playing the East Coast club circuit for ten-plus years (with little commercial success to show for it), Kix’s own brand of infectious AC/DC power rock-meets-New York, black-hair-dye-glam would finally see its big payoff with the release of 1988’s, Blow My Fuse. Produced by hard rock stalwart Tom Werman, Blow My Fuse may have proved to be the band’s biggest-selling record but not necessarily its best. Featuring ten solid songs, including the first single/video for the very AC/DC-sounding “Cold Blood,” the infectious “She Dropped Me the Bomb,” and the excellent title track “Blow My Fuse,” the album’s big boon would manifest itself in the form of a monster-power ballad, “Don’t Close Your Eyes.” The track ultimately proved to be Kix’s coming-out party and their graduation into the big leagues. Sadly, it would prove to be the band’s sole bona fide career hit even though “Cold Blood” made a few tremors here and there. Almost overnight, the band was now travelling on luxury tour busses and effortlessly holding its own as an opening act in arenas across the United States. Embraced with open arms by MTV, “Don’t Close Your Eyes” finally allowed Kix to open for the likes of David Lee Roth, heroes AC/DC, and Aerosmith, as well as other soon to be forgotten acts like Ratt and the horrific Britny Fox. After years of hardship, the band could breathe easy (if only for a brief 18 months or so). Just two years later, like many of their other so-called hair rock contemporaries, Kix would see their fortunes crushed with the advent of grunge. The band would solider on with the release of the more mature Hot Wire.

Tracklist:
01. Kix – Red Lite, Green Lite, TNT (03:57)
02. Kix – Get It While It’s Hot (04:27)
03. Kix – No Ring Around Rosie (04:36)
04. Kix – Don’t Close Your Eyes (04:18)
05. Kix – She Dropped Me The Bomb (03:51)
06. Kix – Cold Blood (04:17)
07. Kix – Piece Of The Pie (03:52)
08. Kix – Boomerang (03:46)
09. Kix – Blow My Fuse (04:02)
10. Kix – Dirty Boys (03:43)

Personnel:
Steve Whiteman, vocals, harmonica
Ronnie Younkins, guitar
Brian Forsythe, guitar
Donnie Purnell, bass, keyboards, vocals
Jimmy Chalfant, drums, vocals

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