Real World Kansas

Real World

Dirty Deeds

Beast / Sanctuary Records, 1999

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 03/24/2000

"Welcome to the real world," sings Pete Franklin on the leadofftrack of Real World, the second release from Britain's Dirty Deeds.Following the cancellation of the Iron Maiden tour where the bandwas making their debut and the shuttering of Velvel Records (whowere supposed to release the band's debut Danger Of Infection), that phrase probably rings too true tothe band.

Unfortunately, the phrase applies to the entire album Real World, which fails to break any new ground for the bandand tries unsuccessfully to build on the strong foundation theylaid with Danger Of Infection. It gets tiring to refer to the"sophomore slump," but Real World is, sadly, a textbook case of this - and it'sfrustrating when you know this band is capable of better.

There are, admittedly, some moments where it sounds like DirtyDeeds has things running full steam ahead. "Kill The Pain" is adefinite pick for a radio track, integrating a little more of theharmony vocals that this band underuses so much. The guitar work ofFranklin and Barry Fitzgibbon shines on this track.

Regrettably, this is the only strong track on the disc. "WelcomeTo The Real World," which kicks off the disc, sounds like are-tread of "Nothing To Lose," the first song off Danger Of Infection. When you start repeating things likethat early in the album, you can see the red flag being raised.Granted, the song isn't a note-for-note cover of "Nothing To Lose,"but it's disconcerting to hear two albums in a row led off by asong in the same key, in the same tempo.