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Tuesday, April 4, 2023

"Big Talk" by Warrant

Song#:  4092
Date:  11/04/1989
Debut:  96
Peak:  93
Weeks:  4
Genre:  Hard Rock, Glam Metal


Pop Bits:  This band's debut album Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich really took off after its second single, the power ballad "Heaven," became a gold selling #2 Pop/#3 Rock hit. The LP would then peak at #10 and quickly go platinum. For a follow up, this next track was selected for the third single. It perhaps wasn't the right choice as the song stalled at #30 Rock while only spending a month at the bottom of the Pop chart. The album's fourth single, another power ballad, would help the band rebound.

ReduxReview:  I totally get that the band needed to follow up "Heaven" with a more upbeat aggressive single and this track was perhaps the one that had the most radio potential. Still, it wasn't the best candidate for a single. When you have listeners looking for big hooks like ones supplied by the likes of Bon Jovi, this tune wasn't going to cut it.

ReduxRating:  4/10

Trivia:  The cover art for Warrant's debut album was created by Mark Ryden. From the late 80s through most of the 90s, Ryden mainly worked as a commercial artist creating album and book covers. The style of his work was known as Lowbrow (aka Pop Surrealism). Although Lowbrow had been around since the 60s, it started to become more recognized in the early 80s. Ryden's works would be associated with the art form especially after he left commercial art behind and had his first exhibition in 1998. He became a prominent figure in Lowbrow art with Interview magazine even calling him "the god-father of pop surrealism." For Warrant's album, Ryden created a figure known as Fugazi who is described as "an overpaid, amoral infrastructure manager and archetypal business psychopath." For the "Big Talk" video, Fugazi was brought to life by someone in a replica head/mask and costume. In the video the character's name is Cashly Guido Bucksley. During his commercial period, Ryden would do album covers for several artists including Michael Jackson (Dangerous) and Red Hot Chili Peppers (One Hot Minute). He also did a couple book cover designs for Stephen King.

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