Rough Cutt - Rough Cutt/Wants You (Wounded Bird) 1985/1986/2005
Rough Cutt
1. Take Her (3:39)
2. Piece Of My Heart (4:45)
3. Never Gonna Die (4:20)
4. Dreamin' Again (5:48)
5. Cutt Your Heart Out (2:29)
6. Black Widow (4:33)
7. You Keep Breaking My Heart (5:14)
8. Kids Will Rock (4:02)
9. Dressed To Kill (4:15)
10. She's Too Hott (3:27)
Rough Cutt Wants You
11. Rock The USA (2:59)
12. Bad Reputation (3:46)
13. Don't Settle For (2:34)
14. Hot 'n' Heavy (4:50)
15. Take A Chance (4:07)
16. We Like It Loud (3:59)
17. Double Trouble (3:49)
18. You Wanna Be A Star (2:44)
19. Let 'Em Talk (2:37)
20. The Night Cries Out (For You) (4:54)
Ahhhh, now here is a blast from the past. Frankly, Rough Cutt for me will always be the band that "Duke Famous" came from. (“Wanker!”) But seriously, Rough Cutt’s claim to fame was the gravely, soulful vocals of Paul Shortino, who's David Coverdale like howl gave this band their charm. Much of Rough Cutt sounds like a combination of Ratt and Whitesnake, with that oh so familiar croon over top. "Dreamin’ Again" should have been a huge hit for the band. I can only imagine if Whitesnake had recorded this song in 1987 it would have been huge. The creatively titled "Cutt Your Heart Out" is a fast, Hollywood metal rocker and one of the standout cuts on the album. As I recall, this track ended side one of the vinyl and was an excellent way to end the side. Flip over the record and the slow, heavy groove of "Black Widow" continued to impress. Frankly, I think that modern music formats take away some of the art that use to come from wax, and that is certainly the case here. Listening to this album on CD for the first time in well over a decade, I still hear those two tracks separated by the flipping of the vinyl. "You Keep Breaking My Heart" is a melodic, yet heavy and driving, blues-based power ballad. The album ends with two more Hollywood party rockers, once again brought to life by a heavy guitar tone and Shortino’s soulful vocals. As is obvious by the song titles, this band wasn’t really about deep, meaningful lyrics. This was a band concerned with good time rock and roll.
"Rock the USA" is an upbeat rocker that starts off the band’s sophomore release. It seems to me that the production is a bit thinner on this album than the debut. Perhaps the difference is in producers. The debut was produced by Tom Allom, who is most known for his work with Judas Priest in the 80’s, while "Wants You" was produced by Jack Douglas, most know for his work with Aerosmith in the 70’s. Either way, the band’s follow-up has a slicker sound, though the band steers clear of the over-produced, keyboard sound that infected so many albums in the mid 80’s. Once again, with song titles like "Hot 'n' Heavy" and "We Like It Loud", Rough Cutt make it clear what their purpose is; straight forward, good time, party-hard, rock and roll. Unfortunately, "Wants You" was the last album for Rough Cutt until the 1996 live album.
For a long time, these two CDs would fetch quite a handsome sum from Ebay. Thankfully Wounded Bird saw fit to re-release both albums on one CD. Unfortunately the packaging leaves a bit to be desired. The four page cover insert features a small photo of the front and back cover of each album, the track listing, and that’s about it. No photos, no biography, no liner notes to speak of.
Paul Shortino also joined Quite Riot for a spell in 1988, replacing Kevin DuBrow for once album. Powergod covered "Cutt Your Heart Out".