'89 Live In Japan Arkansas

'89 Live In Japan

Quiet Riot

Hauptfilm / MVD, 2004

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 01/06/2005

By 1989, Quiet Riot was a band that was barely treading water.They had undergone the stigma of having lead singer Kevin DuBrowbadmouth anyone within shouting range to the point that his actionswere hurting the band -- leading to his unceremonious firing. Withonly two remaining members -- guitarist Carlos Cavazo and drummerFrankie Banali -- from their glory days, Quiet Riot had twochoices: try and salvage their career, or call it a day.

Bravely, they soldiered on, adding bassist Sean McNabb and RoughCutt vocalist Paul Shortino to the lineup and recording onepoorly-received self-titled disc. That lineup, though, did trytheir best to make a name for themselves, as evidenced on the homevideo '89 Live In Japan.

Two things immediately jump out at the viewer with this set.First, while Shortino has a good set of pipes on him, he was notcut out to attempt the high-pitched whines that were DuBrow's vocaltrademark. This is probably the reason why this set is light onselections from the DuBrow era of the band, featuring a whoppingthree selections. (From the outro, it does sound like the groupplayed more, as you hear "Mama, We're All Crazee Now" -- onewonders why the whole show isn't included.) Second, Shortino wasnot the right person for the band. Nothing against him, but withShortino fronting the band oozing Robert Plant-like sexuality,Quiet Riot almost seems like they've turned into a second-rateWhitesnake.

Need proof? Listen to Shortino go through the motions on "StayWith Me Tonight," the single from Quiet Riot (and also featuredwith the video shot for the single). Shortino seems to have takenevery move directly from David Coverdale, who in turn snatched themfrom Plant. It's not a good fit, especially when one thinks thatQuiet Riot was not previously noted for doing material such asthis.