Ugly Kid Joe
America's Least Wanted

THE REVIEW

Between the late '80s and early '90s, hard rock was undergoing a phase of profound change. After the glorious Eighties, glam and hair metal were starting to fade, soon to be swept away by the grunge phenomenon and alternative rock; old glories like Kiss, AC/DC, and Scorpions, for their part, were losing steam. In short, the genre was becoming old and overdone. Meanwhile, however, bands like Jane's Addiction, Faith No More, and Living Colour set out to reshape hard rock by adding elements of funk, psychedelia, punk, metal, post-punk, rap, and more, making it fresh, lively, and relatable to new generations: call it crossover, if you will.

One could indeed speak of a dualism between old and new, between purity and contamination in those years. And indeed, the newcomers and debutants could be divided into two categories: on one side, there were those who, faithful to the old creed, persevered in the stylistic tradition of the just-concluded decade: Skid Row, and especially the phenomenal Tesla are the happiest examples; on the other side, there were those who followed the new trends and, without fully entering the crossover area, tinged their hard rock with funky and alternative elements: we can mention the vastly underrated Extreme ("Who? Oh yes, those of 'More Than Words') and, indeed, Ugly Kid Joe.

Our guys formed in Isla Vista, California, in 1989. After the '91 EP "As Ugly As They Wanna Be" and the very successful single "Everything About You", also included in the soundtrack of "Wayne's World," they finally reached their first full-length in '92, "America's Least Wanted," an ironic twist on the phrase "America's Most Wanted." And it is precisely the strong dose of irony and irreverence that gives the Kids the right drive towards success: after a decade of rock stars self-proclaimed gods on earth, a band calling themselves 'America's least wanted' cannot but win the public's favor. But beyond silliness, Ugly Kid Joe (at the time comprised of Whitfield Crane on vocals, Klaus Eichstadt and Dave Fortman on guitars, Cordell Crockett on bass, and Mark Davis on drums) were deadly serious. "America's Least Wanted" is fundamentally a hard rock album, but the never banal solutions that the group adopts, a good range of influences, and the right amount of madness make it an excellent hard rock album, surprisingly varied and mature for a band debuting on a large-scale discography.

The songs mainly refer to glam and street metal ("Panhandlin' Prince" and the opener "Neighbour" in particular, two of the best songs of the batch), but there are also plenty of Sabbath-like quotes ("Don't Go"), of which they often covered live "N.I.B." and "Sweet Leaf", and pure heavy metal ("So Damn Cool"). However, as I said before, the album does not live by hard rock alone: Faith No More showed how far hard n' heavy can go, and the Californians do not hold back, directly inspired by Patton and company in "Come Tomorrow" and "Madman", while the brilliant "Same Side" dives headlong into funky antics. There are also power ballads, never trite and always classy: "Busy Bee" recalls alternative rock, but the highlight is the splendid cover of Harry Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle": the guitar arpeggio reminds of a sitar, the atmosphere becomes evocative and Ugly Kid Joe gives us one of the most thrilling ballads of the '90s. Missing is the already mentioned "Everything About You", another peak of the album: irony pedal pressed to the floor, and off you go, everyone having fun like teenagers to the beat of this volcanic funk metal!

In short, this album, and the group in general, deserved more than they actually received. Today, no one remembers them anymore, although at the time, they indeed had their moment of glory; in fact, on many P2P networks like Emule or Limewire, if you search for "Cat's in the Cradle", it will come up as by Guns or even Kid Rock (horror!). They did not deserve all this, also because they were always consistent and honest with their audience, another rarity in the hard rock field: dissolved in '99, to this day, they have never announced moneymaking celebratory reunions, for instance.

If you love Extreme or Living Colour, get this album and love it!