I don't know who thought it would be a good idea for the first release from the Tracii Guns led lineup of L.A. Guns to be an acoustic release. This "rehash" of Tesla's 5 Man Acoustical Jam is 20+ years past its stale date.

Jumping in - this fourteen track disc runs close to 70 minutes and contains one new song "Little Soldier", covers of Otis Redding's "These Arms of Mine" and Boudleaux Bryant's "Love Hurts" and ten assorted L.A. Guns cuts. The first problem with this disc is that it is flat out boring - there is a bare minimum of crowd banter and minimal energy to the performance. There is no doubt that Tracii can play but his acoustic finger-picking is the stuff you hear at B.B. King's while eating a pre-made, reheated hamburger and drinking grossly overpriced beer. Jizzy's vocals sound pretty good but acoustic takes on some of the slower songs ("It's Over Now") end up sounding like yacht rock cheese and the band's cover of "These Arms of Mine" is positively painful. Unfortunately, the band's one new song, "Little Soldiers", has L.A. Guns sounding like a country bar band so there is no salvation here either. There are some moments of redemption as the band finds its energy on some of the tracks from the first three L.A. Guns albums ("Over of the Edge", "Sex Action" [which briefly segues into "Paint It Black"], "Never Enough", "Ballad of Jane" and "Rip and Tear"). All-in-all though, the bloated portions of this disc take all the life out of this performance and make this one to pass on.

Generally, I'd say wait for the next disc but Jizzy Pearl has dropped out of the lineup and has been replaced by Dilana Robichaux (Rock Star: Supernova runner-up). I think this version of the L.A. Guns franchise is pretty close to having run its course.

For anyone who wants to check out the current incarnation of the band, L.A. Guns is playing Rebel on Nov. 5th along with 20 Shades, Metalfier and Suicide Boulevard. Tickets are $12 in advance.

Links:
L.A. Guns