This review has nothing to do with the extreme forms of music we usually feature… It is first and foremost based on nostalgia, so please have mercy with me… Back in 1990 Columbia / Sony Records flew in a bunch of journalists to London to check out a new band they had just signed for a showcase gig at the Marquee club. The band’s name was LOVE/HATE and their debut album "Blackout In The Red Room" had just been released by then. A clever business decision for sure, because otherwise I would probably never have listened to those guys at all. To me they just seemed to be another Sleaze Rock act that record companies were signing like crazy at the time, hoping to have the next GUNS’N’ROSES on their roster. LOVE/HATE definitely had their roots in that genre as well and also came across like the typical bad boys of Rock (with Sex, drugs and booze type lyrics). BUT instead of sounding like another typical Sleaze act they mixed their music up with crazy stuff in the JANE’S ADDICTION vein and an overall almost punkish attitude. These guys were obviously trying to be different right from the start and delivered a bunch of extremely cool songs in that respect. Needless to say that they really exploded on stage and left me rather speechless and impressed. So, after that show (and an interview that took place the next day), I was finally hooked and the album started to grow on me more and more… I couldn’t care less that it was music I usually ignored most of the time. And you know what? After almost 30 years the songs still sound very fresh nowadays. That’s probably why I still enjoy ‘Why Do You Think They Call It Dope?’, ‘She’s An Angel’, ‘Fuel To Run’, ‘One More Round’ or the title track in the same way today. Rock Candy Records, UK’s finest label when it comes to digging up old Rock classics, have just re-released "Blackout In The Red Room" and its also highly recommended follow-up "Wasted In America" (with my personal standout tracks ‘Yucca Man’, ‘Happy Hour’, ‘Miss America’ and ‘Wasted In America’) in their typical high quality vein (fat booklets with lots of old pictures and liner notes) and both albums even offer single B-sides as bonus tracks. “Blackout In The Red Room” got ‘Tinseltown’, ‘One More Round’ (live) and ‘Slave Girl’ (live), while “Wasted In America” has ‘Castles From Sand’ and ‘Soul House Tales’ (which is basically some interview excerpts) on it. So, if you’re open minded for various types of music and you missed out on LOVE/HATE in the first place, this is a new chance to discover their albums. More band information and order details you will find at www.facebook.com/jizzypearlslovehate, www.rockcandyrecords.com or www.facebook.com/rockcandyrecords