Warrant's fourth album, "Ultraphobic"(1995) is a weird departure for Warrant, but it is also a pretty good one.

Around 1992-1993, Warrant found themselves in trouble.  While their third record, "Dog Eat Dog" (1992) had gotten them another gold record and  had made the charts, sometime after it was released, Warrant's popularity faded out.  When it came time for this record, original Warrant guitarist Joey Allen and drummer Steven Sweet had left the band, and Allen found himself replaced by guitarist Rick Steier while Sweet found himself replaced by drummer James Kottak. So, after Warrant had experimented with some grunge material on "Dog Eat Dog", "Ultraphobic" found them becoming a full time grunge band.

Like I already said, this album was a bit of a weird departure for Warrant, but it was also a pretty good one.  I would have preferred to see the Down Boys stick with their original roots-but times, people, and music change, and Warrant was just trying to stay up to date with grunge rock, the new kind of popular music that had killed the popularity of all hair bands, with only a few exceptions.  The opening track for this album is "Undertow", which lets listeners know that this album will not be anything like D.R.F.S.R. or Cherry Pie, "Family Picnic" is deep and dark, "Sum of One" is the one song on this album that comes the closest to sounding like the original Warrant, while "Stronger Now" is a bit of a country song.  I won't give a rundown of every song, but I will also add that "Crawl Space" and "Live Inside Of You" are both grunge rock meets science fiction.  Those are good and weird songs,but neither are the weirdest songs that Warrant has ever recorded.  That honor goes to "April 2031", a song that appeared on "Dog Eat Dog" about the world ending in-you guessed it, April 2031.

I've always had a lot of respect for Jani Lane as a singer and a songwriter.  Lane is my favorite songwriter of the hair band era, and some of his songs tend to tell stories.  A great example of just that is track five, "Chameleon". Like another reviewer mentioned a page back, Lane was getting a divorce when this album was being made, and I think that Jani did a good job at releasing the part of him that was sad and the part of him that was mad through some of the songs on here, even though Lane claims that he wrote none of these songs off of his real life experience with his divorce. In the meantime, Rick Steir amd James Kottak are not as good performers as Steven Sweet and Joey Allen are, but they did a good job filling the positions they had to fill.

Give this album a listen.  Like I said, I would have preferred to see Warrant stick with their original roots, but they were just in a tough position, and even though they were abandoning songs like "Cherry Pie" and "Heaven" to become a grunge band, they were not trying to be Pearl Jam or Nirvana. And for a band like Warrant, that is a good thing.  I know that Warrant has sometimes been referred to as "posers" and sometimes even "sexists", but people like to hear themselves speak, and even though Warrant has not been popular in a long time, they have been referred to as one of the most succesful bands of their era.  Just don't ever refer to them as a pop metal band.  Ever.

I look forward for the release of their new album that is due out this summer.
Warrant's fourth album, "Ultraphobic"(1995) is a weird departure for Warrant, but it is also a pretty good one. Around 1992-1993, Warrant found themselves in trouble. While their third record, "Dog Eat Dog" (1992) had gotten them another gold record and  had made the charts, sometime after it was released, Warrant's popularity faded out. When it came time for this record, original Warrant guitarist Joey Allen and drummer Steven Sweet had left the band, and Allen found himself replaced by guitarist Rick Steier while Sweet found himself replaced by drummer James Kottak. So, after Warrant had experimented with some grunge material on "Dog Eat Dog", "Ultraphobic" found them becoming a full time grunge band. Like I already said, this album was a bit of a weird departure for Warrant, but it was also a pretty good one. I would have preferred to see the Down Boys stick with their original roots-but times, people, and music change, and Warrant was just trying to stay up to date with grunge rock, the new kind of popular music that had killed the popularity of all hair bands, with only a few exceptions. The opening track for this album is "Undertow", which lets listeners know that this album will not be anything like D. R.F.S.R. or Cherry Pie, "Family Picnic" is deep and dark, "Sum of One" is the one song on this album that comes the closest to sounding like the original Warrant, while "Stronger Now" is a bit of a country song. I won't give a rundown of every song, but I will also add that "Crawl Space" and "Live Inside Of You" are both grunge rock meets science fiction. Those are good and weird songs,but neither are the weirdest songs that Warrant has ever recorded. That honor goes to "April 2031", a song that appeared on "Dog Eat Dog" about the world ending in-you guessed it, April 2031. I've always had a lot of respect for Jani Lane as a singer and a songwriter. Lane is my favorite songwriter of the hair band era, and some of his songs tend to tell stories. A great example of just that is track five, "Chameleon". Like another reviewer mentioned a page back, Lane was getting a divorce when this album was being made, and I think that Jani did a good job at releasing the part of him that was sad and the part of him that was mad through some of the songs on here, even though Lane claims that he wrote none of these songs off of his real life experience with his divorce. In the meantime, Rick Steir amd James Kottak are not as good performers as Steven Sweet and Joey Allen are, but they did a good job filling the positions they had to fill. Give this album a listen. Like I said, I would have preferred to see Warrant stick with their original roots, but they were just in a tough position, and even though they were abandoning songs like "Cherry Pie" and "Heaven" to become a grunge band, they were not trying to be Pearl Jam or Nirvana. And for a band like Warrant, that is a good thing. I know that Warrant has sometimes been referred to as "posers" and sometimes even "sexists", but people like to hear themselves speak, and even though Warrant has not been popular in a long time, they have been referred to as one of the most succesful bands of their era. Just don't ever refer to them as a pop metal band. Ever. I look forward for the release of their new album that is due out this summer.