SLEEZ BEEZ certainly sound like band that was spawned from the Los Angels scene. They were certainly influenced by that scene to some degree, but they hailed from The Netherlands and their first album “Looks Like Hell” in 1987 was a unique affair that had AC/DC influences but went in other directions too.
Tigo ‘Tiger’ Fawzi was the original singer, who was replaced after one album. To be honest, this guy was more unique than his replacement Andrew Ett who sang on the more successful “Screwed Blued & Tattooed”.
Perhaps they lacked direction on their debut, but it’s a fun record to listen to as you wonder, “what’s next” after each song. There’s some ridiculous songs on the album like “Hot And Heavy… Women” and “Girls, Girls, Nasty Nasty”, but they seem to be very tongue in cheek with their delivery and don’t take themselves too serious.
When they do have moments of more seriousness they’re even more interesting. “Warchild” has some haunting guitars licks with a strait up thundering drum beat. It’s more like something from The Cult or The Almighty. Guitarist Chriz Van Jaarsveld is quite underrated, he’s got interesting tones and doesn’t follow the cookie cutter 80’s guitar styles.
Overall it’s not going to be a record for everyone, it’s probably offensive to some, other’s probably won’t get their sense of humor or some of the off-the-wall lyrics. But the album obviously got them some attention which eventually lead to bigger and better things.
History may not always be kind to the legacy of the SLEEZ BEEZ but it should be, they were a talented, but probably misunderstood, hard rockin’ band.
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SLEEZ BEEZ were part a group of bands that weren’t from Los Angeles, they hailed from The Netherlands, but like their Danish neighbors in D.A.D., they had a sound that was close enough to make it fit into the scene that had been dominating the 80’s.
SLEEZ BEEZ first album “Looks Like Hell” came out in 1987 and it had the right influences to fit Los Angeles, it was like Hanoi Rocks meets AC/DC. The album lacked direction and even though singer Tigo ‘Tiger’ Fawzi was very interesting, he and the band didn’t seem to have the consistent sound to be really successful.
For better or worse “Screwed, Blued & Tattooed” was given a bigger budget, a slick production and a new singer Andrew Ett who sounded more like the LA guys. The result was a very typical Glam Metal album for the time period. They were now solidly in the Faster Pussycat/L.A. Guns/Motley Crue camp, the stuff that was still selling pretty good in 1990.
What is missing is the playfulness of the first album that sometimes bordered on the absurd. “Screwed, Blued & Tattooed”, the song and the album as a whole was supposed to be taken more serious, but the single “Stranger Than Paradise” was just subpar at best. I would have preferred they did something like the first Faster Pussycat album but the label pushed them into a more commercial direction and wiping out their punk influences for pop sensibilities.
With a name like SLEEZ BEEZ people expect more reckless fun and more attitude. Songs like “Heroes Die Young” and “This Time” just flat out don’t work. But “When The Brains Go To The Balls”, the title track and “Rockin’ In The Western World” do.
It’s still a better than average record but if they had possibly been left to their own devices more it could have been more interesting and downright crazy.
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The hard truth about 1992 is that any band with ties to the 80’s were NOT going get a push from their record label. There was a concerted effort to push them out as grunge and alternative was the new thing.
SLEEZ BEEZ already had some mild success and MTV airplay from their album “Screwed, Blued & Tattooed”. Now they found themselves slowly being pushed out, at least in the United States market.
Their debut album in 1987 was a much more raw and real affair, it had that kind of sound that could have brought them in different direction. Now on a major label they were quickly pushed into a corner with a more “Pop” sound. It’s unfortunate too, because I think if they were left alone more they would have been a much more Punk-infused rock band with a unique sound.
On 1992’s “Powertool” they sounded over-commercialized and helped open the door for criticism and the darker grunge sounds to move in. I’m not saying it was all their fault though. Over the years we’ve found out most of that late 80’s sound was the record label and AOR reps pushing for more radio and MTV hits. Yeah, it’s their job, but they were also instrumental in killing off the genre, which may have been the intent in the first place.
“Powertool” is actually a painful reminder of how potentially great bands were reduced to cliché’ ridden Pop rock. They still had success in places like Japan where English was a second language, but they were pretty much ignored in the states.
The album starts out with a blatant rip off of Trooper’s “Raise A Little Hell” and it goes down hill from there. The song “Head To Toe” starts off with a voice that says “Psst, hey kid, is that a radio in your pocket or are you happy to hear us?” Who was the genius who came up with that stupid line?
Perhaps even more stupid is the song “What’s That Smell”. From their first album the band had a little “wink” to their music, but it’s not coming across like that anymore, now it’s just stupid.
It’s a waste of talent, these guys deserve better, if they were really behind the nonsense then they deserve what they got. If they were pushed into it by the record labels then I have sympathy and wonder “what could have been”.
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