Poison

"I got a girl on the left of me, a girl on the right, I know damn well I slept with both last night...". There you have it, early-days Poison summarized in one sentence.

Let's address it right away—the album cover is undeniably outrageous, pushing the boundaries of glam metal aesthetics to the extreme. Both then and now, it almost feels like a parody of what the average person would associate with glam metal. In my opinion it is fantastic, akin to a Barbie Doll version of Mötley's alternative "Shout At The Devil" artwork from a couple of years earlier.

But does this artwork suggest that Poison was more about image than substance? Well, perhaps on occasions. Despite the refreshingly unpretentious quality of their music, listening to "Look What The Cat Dragged In" from start to finish can be a bit ...much. Or little, depending how you look at it. Moreover, some songs struggle to strike a balance between catchiness and, for lack of a better word, shallowness—yes, "I Want Action" is one of those.

With a reputation as the hardest-working band on the Sunset Strip (this stems from the fact that they were the kings of diy-concert posters and handing out flyers), Poison certainly projected an image of being here primarily to, as it would sound on their next album, have ...nothin' but a good time. Although Bret Michaels was a charismatic frontman, his vocal prowess was far from being on par with some of his contemporaries, not unlike a certain blond-haired entertainer who led Van Halen during their peak. This, as prooven, does not limit what's to be accomplished from a commercial perspective.

The album kicks off with "Cry Tough," the first single, which pretty much takes it's intro from The Ronettes masterpiece "Be My Baby", but as CC Deville's guitar takes over, it becomes clear that the music matches the album cover—glam with a capital G. Given its limited budget, the album doesn't sound terrible, though it does come across as somewhat thin and lacking in vibrancy at times.

The aforementioned "Cry Tough" makes a decent try at crafting a memorable melody leading to a gang-vocal chorus, but it failed to chart upon release. The next single, the over-the-top, sleazeball-rocker "Talk Dirty To Me," fared much better, climbing all the way to #9 on the Billboard Hot 100. It's a fun, incredibly shallow song about intimate encounters in not-so-ideal locations, but its infectious chorus melody is bound to stick in your head. 

In summary, "Look What The Cat Dragged In" offers moments of enjoyable listening. Yet, there are times when the material lacks the necessary charm and ends up feeling rather uninspired ("Play Dirty", "#1 Bad Boy"). It's an inconsistent debut album that may have lost some of its appeal over the years, more so than most albums from that era. Nevertheless, "Look What The Cat Dragged In" remains a significant release when recounting the history of the 80's hair metal explosion,  and even though they were far from the most talented band on the Strip, Poison would go on to become one of its major forces.