Canada’s KILLER DWARFS had developed a really strong cult following by the time their album “Dirty Weapons” came out in 1990. They were so close to breaking out big you could just feel it. Then, instead of releasing ‘All That We Dream’ or the mid-tempo ballad ‘It Doesn’t Matter’, they put out the title track, a mediocre rocker that really didn’t make a dent.
It’s really a shame as this is one of the stronger album of the late 80’s and early 90’s and the time you realized that this band had talents beyond many of their peers. They were certainly in the category of what would eventually be called “Hair Metal”, but they had a knack for writing smarter and more mature lyrics. They were super-tight as well and were “killer” live, they had all the elements, just perhaps some bad choices made by the people around them.
Songs like ‘Nothin’ Get’s Nothin’, ‘The Last Laugh’ and ‘Appeal” are just catchy as crap, even if the titles are a bit cliché they take the songs in places not quite as predictable. The whole album is solid and as I mentioned, there were two missed opportunities for classics in ‘All That We Dream” and ‘It Doesn’t Matter’. There’s NO way that shouldn’t have been a bigger hit, it’s still a great message and song to this day.
I’m sure many would pick their earlier album as their favorite for nostalgic reasons, but you cannot deny this was their best musical effort. It was most likely the album with the biggest budget and it shows in the production and mix. It also showed that this band should have been given more attention before 1990.
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