VAIN – All Those Strangers

After nineteen years, Davy Vain is back. However, his comeback is not with new tracks from his remembered Glam Metal Vain band. Mr. Vain presents one of the band’s works that was never actually released. After the thrilling debut, No Respect, dated back to 1989, Vain recorded their “to be” second album, All Those Strangers. Nevertheless, due to several misfortunes, it was never released until now in 2010.

Back in 1991, the supposed year for the album’s release, Vain got into some financial problems due to the disintegration of their label, Island Records. Over the years, the label got up on its feet again after being bought by other record companies. Today, it mainly serves up mainstream Pop. Back to Vain, since the fall down of Island and due to money shortages, All Those Strangers was never officially released and the Vain line-up crumbled into a new band. It took more than a decade for Davy Vain to take action and officially release a fine Glam Metal release, right before the fall of the sub-genre after the Grunge attack. Hail Mr. Vain!

All Those Strangers continues the same pattern as its previous album, No Respect. However this album is not close to the successful hits of the debut as “Beat The Bullet”, “Laws Against Love” and “Who is Watching You”, yet it sill has memorable moments. Davy Vain shows his girlish sexy voice as his peers produce some nice Hard Rock/Glam Metal (even with hints of Punk) twitches to the borders of Sleaze. In comparison to the first album, hits as “Wake Up”, “Love Drug”, “Shooting Star”, “Here Comes Lonely” and “Shouldn’t Cry” come as nice Glam Metal tunes at the sub-genre’s last stretch, yet, those aren’t running smoothly as on the debut.

Largely, All Those Strangers did not feel like the free streaming Vain that was known up until then, nevertheless, it was better than the next Vain releases. The later albums such as Move On It, Fade and On The Line, which was released not long ago, weren’t able to catch the magic that was created back in 1989. Those albums just were not showing the same young spirit of Vain, although they displayed a rather matured band. This is Glam Metal folks; it is supposed to be young and fresh out of the spray shop.

Other notable tracks: “Looking Glass”, “Far Away” and “Planet Turning”.