The second release for 'Saigon Kick' and here the sound matures dramatically with a more modern alternative approach which still manages to combines both traditional ballads and harder crunchy rockers. This release receives a lot of recognition and certain tracks are definitely worthy of this, but 16 tracks is still far too ambitious and some songs I would certainly categorise as filler.

'The Lizard' opens with 'Cruelty' a short atmospheric, building instrumental, which only really acts as a prelude to the heavy grooving 'Hostile Youth', personally I'm not particularly impressed with the lyrics but the hard hitting vocals and instrumentation carry it. The pace drops for the light-hearted mid tempo 'Feel the Same', 'Matt Kramer' cleverly softens his vocals to make this a decent journey into the Alternative Rock ballad. The pace is restored with the hard hitting 'Freedom', a track which balances a crunching rhythm with lighter more melodic verses, the mid track lull is overdone but still a quality effort. Less impressive is the Beatlesque 'God of 42nd Street' a tame and unoriginal melody set at a snails pace. A short interlude entitled 'My Dog' is not worthy of inclusion on the album but sets the scene for the superb 'Peppermint Tribe', not too sure about the lyrics but the rhythm and guitar work is cracking and makes this quality rocker my top pick. The tempo falls for the emotionally performed ballad 'Love is on the Way', I'm not usually a fan of sentimental pap like this, but the boys turn in a magnificent performance on this passionate melody. Next up is the title track and after the short and disappointing spoken intro the track picks up with plenty of heavy driving rhythm, but unfortunately just doesn't make the grade despite some nice intricate fret work. Back on track is the pulsating rocker 'All Alright' a gritty head moving jewel, incorporating strong aggressive vocals and challenging guitar work from 'Jason Bieler' to make this another album highlight. A short flowing atmospheric instrumental called 'Sleep' follows and succeeds in softening the tempo for the balladsy 'All I Want' a track which is excellently accomplished but fails to impress with its airy, distant approach. The pace is restored with the punishing 'Body Bags' an almost Thrash Metal track with it's forceful rhythm, aggressive vocals and hard hitting lyrics, well worth the money though just for the superb guitar solo. 'Miss Jones' follows and aside from some more excellent guitaring is let down by the light-weight and disappointing chorus. The last full track is the 'Lillian Axe' sounding 'World goes Around', again the chorus lets the tracks down with it's incoherent approach, but the instrumentation is still very strong. 'Chanel' closes the album on a low with what can only be described as the band playing about on a traditional sounding number, regrettably it comes off pretty dire.

There's plenty of sharp cuts present that make this a very good release especially for the early 90's, I do have my doubts about a couple of tracks but what do you expect with 16 songs.