Warrant – Ultraphobic

Their first post-major label release on the emerging CMC Records (emerging at that time). The first half of this record is quite a bit better than the 2nd, except for the last song, which is a massive gem among hidden gems. The production quality is very lackluster and the band seems to lose its direction a few times throughout. I'm sure it was difficult to write a more serious record with your instruments tuned much lower to provide no hint of hair metal whatsoever. 'Undertow' is a perfect start to this album. Great hook, great chorus, great solo, etc. The other stand-outs for me are 'Followed', 'Crawl Space' and 'Ride #2'. Notice how they adopted the onexword song title to fit on with the grunge movement? So silly. This release is on par with Dog Eat Dog in its aggressive approach, but the song writing just isn't as good. However, 'Stronger Now' is perhaps one of the best ballads to be recorded by any of those band from that genre. It's just a simple acoustic track with Jani telling a story about moving on after a relationship and how difficult it was but also how happy he is to have experienced it. There's not a soul who can't relate to these lyrics. His daughter, Maddie Lane, did a phenomenal job rerecording it and you can listen to that on YouTube under her name as the search. I feel safe placing this release from Warrant as their 3rd best, in my opinion. Right behind Dog Eat Dog and Cherry Pie as the first two.