Poison Flesh & Blood Lyrics

Flesh & Blood finds the ultimate party band of the 80s taking a more serious tack. Surprisingly enough, most of the time it works, and the result is a collection of songs with more substance than Poison's previous work, while preserving the band's sense of fun. "Valley of Lost Souls", "Life Loves a Tragedy", and the introspective "Life Goes On" show that Poison is in fact capable of writing good songs that aren't party anthems, though "Something to Believe In" stretches their ambition to the breaking point. "Unskinny Bop" is a delightful piece of raunchy adolescent rock, and "Ride the Wind" is a catchy biker tune (though nowhere near as classic as "Born to Be Wild"-then again, nothing is). The band even veers toward a bluesier edge at times, notably on "Poor Boy Blues". -- Genevieve Williams