Cheap Up Your Alley (Music) (Joan Jett & The Blackhearts) Price

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Customer Reviews of Up Your Alley

JOAN JETT MAKES HER MARK
Want to know what Joan Jett is all about? This is the place to find out. On "Up Your Alley" Joan shows us what it's like to really love rock and roll by doing what she does best: creating those three-chord rock songs so vibrant they make you dance and so memorably written and performed that you can't stop singing them after the first listen. No better hook can be heard in any chorus in rock history than on "I Hate Myself For Loving You", a spitefully irreverent dedication to one of THOSE people....and she more than makes up for this bitterness in "Play That Song Again", a tune which then makes us believe, truly believe, that this is where Joan's heart really is....in the music. Will you believe the cold brutal honesty of "You Want In, I Want Out" or the more homey and endearing sentiment in "Desire"? Well, I'll bet even money that Joan Jett makes you believe both...and makes you ask yourself if there is really anything more to it than being enraptured by the music she is making.

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Jett rocks Mott
The trouble with you lot and Miss Jett is very simple, you take one look and go "Sex Bomb" and don't go any further. This may be a fair gut reaction. However, stop, take a smell of the music because it rocks. Released in 1988 and produced by long term mentor Kenny Laguna, "Up Your Alley" has been far more influential on the rock world than most would admit. All of the big hair poodle rock boys should give a doff of the hat to Joan Jett and her merry cohorts "The Blackhearts". From "Bon Jovi" to "Motley Crue", they've all obviously lent an ear, copping a few hints here and hear. Everybody who's been to a bar in Thailand knows the opening song, "I Hate Myself For Loving You". Whether it is the original version by Joan or a Thai cover version the music is undeniably Joan Jett's. The song opens with Thommy Price's big drum sound before the guitars come crashing in. Joan gives one of her sexy little yelps and the chorus drags you dancing along. As with two other songs on this album, "Little Liar" and the love rejection song "You Want In, I Want Out", it was co-written with Desmond Child. This does not diminish anything from the songs that Joan wrote with the rest of the band. There is not a 'filler' on the album. "I Still Dream About You" is an all time classic, with Joan throwing herself at you with some of the most Vulgar Lyrics ever recorded. The two cover songs are well chosen. First you have Chuck Berry's free way madness anthem "Tulane" which just rocks, with Thommy Price's drums again excelling. The high point of the album though is Joan's interpretation of the Stooges "I Wanna Be Your Dog", which Joan makes her own. I want to be your dog Joan? Joan Jett & the Blackhearts have always been in your face Rock 'n' Roll. What the band play is what you get - the original garage punk. Nowadays, it's all lip syncing to back up tapes and posing which is not really Joan's thing. However, when the people want to rock again, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts will be there at the top of the pile singing about 'sex', 'cruisin' & 'rockin' reel hard. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts still play over 200 concerts a year and the last two studio albums, "Notorious" & "Pure and Simple" are phenomenal. It is Rock 'n' Roll Heaven, check it out. Mott the Dog.

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Music right up my alley
By 1988, I'd only heard "I Love Rock And Roll" and "Good Music," the latter on MTV. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long with Up Your Alley and it's opening single, "I Hate Myself For Loving You." Having felt I missed out on her when she first came out, this song with opening anthemic drums, power guitars, and chorus. Desmond Child's songwriting can be felt here. In some ways, I'm reminded of a slowed down "Heaven's On Fire," a song he did for KISS. That song and "Ridin' With James Dean" shows Joan's shift to arena rock, with crashing guitar theatrics and riffs. "Back It Up" even has shades of Def Leppard. Given that Hysteria was released the previous year, it's hardly surprising that incorporating that sort of sound was seen as a boon.

The other single from here shows how Joan can exhibit the vulnerable and hurt apart from the anger from being lied to. "Little Liar" exudes all three in this rock ballad, with a choral backing and rhythm guitar that makes this more an 80's Heart song. Like the other single, this highlights Desmond Child's co-writing talents. But it also makes me ask, "Joan, do you any NICE guys instead of ones who treat you like cr-p?"

Joan does two cover songs back-to-back. The first is Chuck Berry's rollicking "Tulane." See, that's the thing about a Jett album. It's anticipating what she'll cover in a sea of original numbers that makes it fun. The other is a moody, paced, chugging rendition of Iggy Pop's "I Wanna Be Your Dog," with enough power guitar to make it worthwhile.

The mid-paced rocker "You Want In, I Want Out," also co-written with Desmond Child, has a sound that mirrors KISS, Crazy Nights era, minus the Ron Nevison wall of synth, but with the arena rock backing vocals of Heart.

"Just Like In The Movies" has that classic Jett bite, sporting an electric bluesy guitar that belongs on the first album. And ace songwriter Diane Warren helps Joan and producer Kenny Laguna on the 60's-pop inspired "Desire," which sounds quite nice with the usual guitars and backing vocals, also 60's-inspired, a sound also found in the more tempered but listenable "Play that Song Again."

This is the first album since drummer Lee Crystal and bassist Gary Ryan's departure following Good Music, replaced here by Thommy Price and Kasim Sulton respectively. Ricky Byrd's still here, thank goodness. Up Your Alley shows Joan as strong as ever, with inroads towards KISS/Def Leppard-style arena rock.