The
Soho Roses were around for a couple years in the late '80s, one of the few British bands focusing on glammy hard rock in the manner of American groups like
Guns N' Roses or
Poison, but with a rougher, slightly punky edge that the majority of U.S. hair metal acts completely missed.
Hanoi Rocks is obviously the primary influence on their brand of crunchy pop-metal, but the
Soho Roses lack that band's experimental streak, which makes the 23 songs (including three inessential remixes and two versions of the single "So Alone") sound like nothing more than passable imitations of their forebears. They do get points for a gleefully glammed-up cover of the
Buzzcocks' "What Do I Get," but their original material consists mostly of awkward mash-ups of the harder side of '70s glam rock and the poodle-metal styles of the day. Anyone who doesn't have fond memories of now-forgotten contemporaries like the
London Quireboys and
Dogs D'Amour can give this a pass. ~ Stewart Mason