Spiders & Snakes: London Daze

Audio Samples

>London Daze
>Nonstop Rock
>Party in Hollywood
>Radio Stars
>Don't Know When to Stop
>Public Enemy #1
>Run Run Run
>Elvis's TV
>Rock & Roll Queen
>2000 Rock & Roll
>Nobody Loves You Like I Do - (demo, bonus track)
>Straight from the Heart - (demo, bonus track)
>Dream Girl - (demo, bonus track)

Track List

>London Daze
>Nonstop Rock
>Party in Hollywood
>Radio Stars
>Don't Know When to Stop
>Public Enemy #1
>Run Run Run
>Elvis's TV
>Rock & Roll Queen
>2000 Rock & Roll
>Nobody Loves You Like I Do - (demo, bonus track)
>Straight from the Heart - (demo, bonus track)
>Dream Girl - (demo, bonus track)

Album Notes

Contains 3 demo tracks from Lizzie Grey's previous band LONDON.

Spiders & Snakes; Lizzy Grey (vocals, guitar); Doug E. Sex (guitar); Leigh Lawson (bass, samples); Timothy Jay (drums, background vocals).

Additional personnel includes: A. Castillo, Nikki Sixx, Nigel Benjamin

Recorded at Dino M III Recording Studios, Torrance, California in 1999 and Paramount Recording Studios, Hollywood, California.

Spiders & Snakes: Doug E. Sex (guitar); Leigh Lawson (bass guitar, sampler); Timothy Jay (drums, background vocals); Lizzie Grey.

Personnel: Lizzie Grey (vocals, guitar).

Additional personnel: A. Castillo (guitar); Nikki Sixx (bass guitar); Nigel Benjamin.

Audio Mixer: Barry Conley.

Recording information: Dino M III Recording Studios, Torrance, CA (1999).

Unknown Contributor Roles: Nikki Sixx; Nigel Benjamin.

First off, the cast of Spiders & Snakes is not pretty, and should take it easy with the excessive sleeve pics. Inside, the track titles give away the disc vibe, as cheap, tricked-out "Radio Stars" wind-up "Nonstop Rock" for the life-threatening pitch of "Party in Hollywood." Whatever decade these four dudes (look like who-knows-what) live in, they're having nothing but a good time here. Led by unsung Hollywood hero Lizzie Grey, Spiders & Snakes weave and coil through "2000 Rock & Roll" like the last decade never happened (Although the stark '90s production makes these festivities shrill; a little late-'70s tubular tuning would shoot these fireworks higher into the night.). The new version of the old scene, "Public Enemy #1" becomes an outrageous fete rather than a cautionary outlaw parable. The "take it all for yourself" dig at the end could be directed at Nikki Sixx, as Spiders & Snakes grand pooh-bah Grey co-authored the cut with Sixx back in the early '80s while comprising the band London (hence the album title). A Spirit-ed run through "Run, Run, Run" and the hot Mott stuff of "Rock and Roll Queen" (you know what I mean) avoids the mid-album ruts (Nigel Benjamin replaced the irreplaceable Ian Hunter in Mott the Hoople, and was also a member of London). The full-frontal rock assault does get a bit monochromatic. Nobody wants any ballads, but London Daze could benefit from a little shading. But these cartoonish cats are having a blast and want you to as well -- a rare and welcome stance. The next record may be brilliant (this is the fifth!), but who knows Spiders & Snakes shake things up, but must be past its prime and, like Hanoi Rocks, is a band caught in the wrong time. So who cares? Get out the heels, the hair spray and self-destruct with London Daze. The wonderfully limited vision of Spiders & Snakes incorporates all that matters: TV, radio, and rock & roll. Luckily the band doesn't know when to stop. The tacked-on '80 London demo is significant, surprisingly stacking up no-less than three mellow chill-pills that almost make me bite my tongue for the above ballad dis: "Nobody Loves You Like I Do" is a quality pop song. "Straight From the Heart" bleeds alright considering, and "Dream Girl" is a glam-slam triumph that deserves a complete makeover. ~ Doug Stone



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