Been a while since I did a smaller Metal Overview fellow Otaku & Metalheads!
As much fun as it is to cover a band with a giant library of music, sometimes it’s nice to look at a group that has a more humble output, and the band I’ve chosen is a strange one for some. Coming in at a time where their style of metal was just about out the door, these Las Vegas boys none the less held fast to what they wanted to play, and managed to achieve a surprising amount of success. I rediscovered them in recent memory, and it seemed only right that I chose this group to be the first covered on Metal Overview for 2025. So, without further delay, here’s my look at the 1990s Hard Rock/Glam Metal band Slaughter. Let’s begin!
Stick It To Ya (1990)
The year was 1990. Heavy Metal, while still popular, would get taken out of the spotlight a year or two later by the musical colossus known as Grunge, but Hair Metal was almost out of the public consciousness as soon as the new decade came in, outside of a few small holdouts that some people had a slim interest in still. Enter the band Slaughter: formed in late 1988, lead vocalist Mark Slaughter and bassist Dana Strum were previously in ex-Kiss member Vinnie Vincent’s group, the Vinnie Vincent Invasion. After Chrysalis Records took the $4 million contract away from Vincent for exceeding his credit line with the label, it was then transferred over to Slaughter and Strum (Who were former band members, btw), and in 1989 the two would complete the lineup with lead guitarist Tim Kelly and drummer Blas Elias. After the formation was finished, the band would enter the studio from May to June of 1989, and on the 23rd of January in 1990, their first record Stick It To Ya was released.
Commercially, Stick It To Ya did a surprisingly good job in the music charts! It wound up selling over 2 million copies in 1990, becoming one of the biggest selling records of that year. It would also chart at no. 18 on the Billboard 200, and by the end of 1990 it would go to no. 23. On top of that, Stick It To Ya would produce 3 singles (Up All Night, Fly To The Angels, Spend My Life), and have music videos for the previously mentioned singles. Pretty impressive if you ask me!
Best Track? Even if you never listened to this album, or even this band to be honest, I have a sneaking suspicion that some of you may have hear Fly To The Angels on the radio at one time. An incredibly soulful & blues influenced track, it becomes all the more sorrowful once you find out the inspiration for it. As Mark Slaughter said in an interview in 2017:
“That song was written about a girlfriend who I went to high school with. I remember I came back from touring and couldn’t get a hold of her. So I asked a friend and he told me he hadn’t seen her. The next thing I know, he calls me back with the news that she had passed away and the funeral was the next day. It was one of those surreal moments. I went to her funeral and it inspired me to write a song about letting go. There’s a real sense of composure in going through those life events that I’m always very conscious of in my music. Seeing what it does for other people is why I continue to write.”
Fly To The Angels
Worst Track? To be perfectly honest, Stick It To Ya doesn’t have a single bad track on it! From top to bottom it’s a hell of a good time, and thankfully there are plenty of people who still remember it. Really it’s own fault is the timing of it’s release: like I said earlier, once it hit 1990, Glam Metal was largely ignored by music listeners outside of some holdouts. To be honestly, it was beginning to leave the musical zeitgeist towards the end of the 1980s.....but that’s a story for another time.
Stick It To Ya. A shockingly good start for a band who’s style wasn’t the juggernaut it used to be, it would establish the band as one of the best of the decade. If by any chance this record interests you, the please listen whenever you can. Next album!
The Wild Life (1992)
Stick It To Ya ended up being a surprising success for Slaughter. Despite Glam Metal almost being out the door as the 90s continued onward, the band’s first release proved that even though it wasn’t massively popular anymore, people still liked that style of music. Because of that love from the fans, not to mention the boost of energy they got from said fans, the band went into the studio in 1991 to record their second album, and on the 21st of April a year later, The Wild Life was released. Ironically, it would chart higher than Stick It To Ya from 2 years prior. Number 8 on the Billboard 200 to be exact, and it would get enough sales to the point where it would be certified Gold. Funny enough, the album didn’t produce any singles that got into the Top 40 Hits on the US Hot 100, though one song did get to the no. 69 spot if you can believe it.
Best Track? Real Love (The song that got to no. 69, btw) harkens back to the Glam Metal height of the 1980s, and it isn’t ashamed of that at all! If anything, it almost feels like the band’s take on the Whitesnake classic Still Of The Night: the instrumentation evokes feelings of sensual love that’s equal parts real & forbidden, and Mark Slaughter’s vocal work just grabs you from the moment he starts singing. The run time is shorter than Still Of The Night, and because of that you’ll have to listen a few time for it to stick.....but when it’s this good, it’s not an issue in any way!
Real Love
Worst Track? Kinda like Stick It To Ya, The Wild Life’s only real fault is timing. It came out at a time where Glam Metal wasn’t really in vogue anymore, only this time it came out a few months after the musical colossus known as Nevermind, and was practically shoved into the closet. It does explain why (at least in my opinion) there’s a hint of Grunge here and there on the album. Not enough to push it away from Hard Rock & Glam Metal in any way, but noticeable enough if you manage to catch it.
The Wild Life. Simultaneously it own thing while possibly adding something new to the mix, it manage to come out stronger than it’s predecessor despite Glam Metal not really being a thing anymore. If Stick It To Ya didn’t work out for you, then perhaps this release will. Next album!
Fear No Evil (1995)
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Things were rough for Slaughter after The Wild Life came out. Prior to the recording of their 3rd album, lead singer Mark Slaughter was recovering from nodule surgery on his vocal cords, Tim Kelly was arrested for charges of drug trafficking in 1993, and bassist Dana Strum was rehabilitating from a motorcycle accident that injured his playing hand around the same time. Because of this, recording on the new record was rough, though the songs were completely written during that time. Even then there was still some trouble, as Chrysalis Records was absorbed into EMI Records, and EMI would drop the band from their label not long after that. Luckily, Slaughter got a deal with CMC International, which was a relatively new record label at the time. Once they secured a new deal, and launched a contest to determine the new album’s name, they got back into the studio from 1993 to 1994, and on the 2nd of May in 1995, Fear No Evil was released.
Fear No Evil would go on to be one of the worst charting releases of Slaughter’s career, making it to no. 182 on the Billboard 200. It would go on to sell around 500,000 copies, have a video make for the track Searching, and the band did manage to promote this CD with a North America tour, as well as selling surprisingly well in Japan if you can believe it. Definitely not as impressive as what came before, that’s for sure.
Best Track? Breakdown N' Cry is one of the biggest examples of full-blown Blues Metal I’ve ever listened to! Though it leans more in the Blues sides of things, there’s still some metallic undertones when it comes to the instrumentation (Especially around the end) & the vibes it was trying to create. This isn’t a fast song either, as it goes by nice & slow for just over 6 minutes. Just as the Blues should go by.
Breakdown N' Cry
Worst Track? Really the only bad thing that’s going against Fear No Evil is the startling lack of Glam Metal elements in the music. There’s still some traces of it in a few tracks, but for the most part it’s nowhere to be heard. To play devil’s advocate, it was the mid-90s by this point, and Hair Metal was pretty much non-existent at this point, but it seems as if Slaughter was doing everything they could to go along with the times. This musical shift would continue over the rest of this decade, for the better.....but maybe for the worst.
Fear No Evil. Not as good as the band’s prior 2 records, but it still manages to be entertaining all the same. I don’t recommend it as strongly as I do Stick It To Ya & The Wild Life, but it’s still nice to listen all the same. Now before I go on, I will say that information on the next 2 releases will be sparse. My primary source of information on bands (Metal & Otherwise) doesn’t have as much info on what’s to come, so I hope that’s okay. Next album!
Revolution (1997)
By the time that the tour for Fear No Evil was coming to an end, Tim Kelly’s legal trouble from the drug trafficking charges a few years prior ended. After that situation ended, and everybody was back on the same page, Slaughter went back into the studio to record their 4th album, and on the 20th of May in 1997, Revolution was released. The record.....did not do so good. In fact, it didn’t even make it onto the billboard 200. There weren’t any music videos as far as I know, but I think there might have been a tour for it.
Best Track? Hard To Say Goodbye mark the only track in my opinion that kept it’s Glam Metal past mostly intact. The more modern recording & production quality along with the Grunge vibes keep this from sounding like something you’d hear in the 80s, yet there’s still plenty of nostalgia from the prior decade coming in hard that you really can’t avoid it at all. To a certain extent, It almost sounds & feels like Old LA Tonight from Ozzy Osbourne’s Ozzmosis from 2 years prior, what with the feelings of nostalgia and looking at the past. It may be cheese in some respects, but it’s that cheese factor that makes me smile so much.
Hard To Say Goodbye
Worst Track? Like Fear No Evil, Revolution’s only real fault is the lack of Glam Metal elements. It’s more apparent on this issue, as the music went much more down the eclectic and psychedelic road I talked about earlier. You can still get a trace of Glam here & there, but you gotta pay really close attention in order to find it. However, I still find the shift to be pleasant on the ears, and is still a nice change. However, it’s a shame that it came at the cost of their prior identity.
Revolution. Though the abandoning of their Glam Metal roots is sad, the potential for Slaughter to be a great eclectic and psychedelic band is definitely there. If you like your music to be a little weird at times, then definitely give this record a try. Unfortunately, not only did the album not chart, but by 1998, tragedy would strike. Next album.
Back To Reality (1999)
Like I said a moment ago, by the time it reached 1998, tragedy would strike Slaughter. On the 5th of February in that year, longtime band member Tim Kelly would pass away in Arizona due to a car accident. His passing hit the band pretty hard, but none the less they trudged on, as they didn’t want to be stuck because of grief. Dave Marshall would briefly perform with them while they were in Japan, but Tim’s full-time replacement came in the form of Jeff Blando. His prior groups were Left For Dead and Saigon Kick, so he definitely has some credit to his name. Once they got their replacement, they went right into the studio, and on the 29th of June in 1999, their final album Back To Reality was release. Like Revolution, it failed to chart on the Billboard 200, and there weren’t any music videos or touring as far as I know.
Best Track? Kinda gotta give to the tracks Love Is Forever & Dangerous. Both tunes come across as incredibly nostalgic, as while there aren’t any Glam Metal elements to be heard, the vibes & the energy of these two songs most certainly conjure the Glam scene of the 1980s to early 90s. There’s even some cheese factor from that time as well, and yet it’s not overwhelming either. Please don’t skip these two when you hear them!
Love Is Forever
Dangerous
However, I gotta give some very high Honorable Mentions to Silence Of Ba. From the moment I first heard this, it almost came across like a Devin Townsend instrumental. Maybe not in terms of instrumentation (Even though the instruments sounded similar to what HevyDevy would do in the 90s), but the vibes come across like that of something that the Mad Canadian would unleash upon one’s ears. Definitely a pleasant surprise!
Silence Of Ba
Worst Track? To be honest, at this point in Slaughter’s career they’ve all but abandoned their Glam Metal origins, and seemingly embraced a late 90s Hard Rock shell that’s got some eclectic & psychedelic spots painted on it. You might, and I do mean MIGHT, get a minuscule sliver of Glam in some rare moments, but by 1999 the band was done with what got them so popular in the first place. To play devil’s advocate again, it was 1999, and by this point nobody was asking for the subgenre anymore except in cases where they wanted to experience a flood of nostalgia. Even so, you almost feel like you gotta do a double take when you listen to this record for the first time, as fans from the beginning of the decade might not believe what they’re hearing at first.
Back To Reality. The furthest away from 1990, yet the quality from prior releases is still very much accounted for. If you were a longtime fan that was disillusioned by Glam Metal in the 90s, or you’re a fan of 90s Rock, then this is the album for you!
And that was my look at Slaughter. Perhaps a bit too late to the 80s Glam Metal party, but none the less they managed to hold onto a little of that time’s musical magic. Even if they never produce a new album, the ones they did are wonderful in their own right. So with that, February continues onward, and in a few weeks I’ll have my review for Katsucon 2025. Until then, take care!
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If you’re curious about listening to these albums, click on the links below:
Stick It To Ya (w Bonus Tracks)
The Wild Life (w Bonus Tracks)
Fear No Evil
Revolution
Back To Reality
Also, if you would like a documentary on the band, check out the link below:
Slaughter - The Wild Life (Documentary 1991)
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