Crack a Smile… And More

Crack a Smile… And More
Studio album by Poison
Publication (s)	March 14, 2000
Label (s)	Capitol Records
Format (s)	CD
Genre (s)	Glam metal
Title (number)	20th
running time	75:29
occupation	Bret Michaels - vocals Blues Saraceno - guitar Bobby Dall - electric bass Rikki Rockett - drums
production	John Purdell , Duane Baron
Studio (s)	Devonshire Studios
chronology Greatest Hits 1986-1996 1997 Crack a Smile… And More Power to the People 2000

Crack a Smile… And More is the fifth studio album by the American glam metal band Poison , released in 2000 but recorded in 1996 . It is the only Poison album that was created with the help of the guitarist Blues Saraceno , and in addition to the twelve originally planned for the 1996 release, it contains two outtakes , an unfinished demo version , an outtake from the album Open Up and Say… Ahh! , as well as four tracks that were recorded during the group's MTV Unplugged concert recorded in 1990 .

Emergence

Poison had separated from their guitarist CC DeVille in 1991 and was looking for a replacement to record the next album. Applicants for the post included Richie Kotzen and Blues Saraceno; the group decided on Kotzen, with whom they recorded the 1993 album Native Tongue . However, after the guitarist got involved in a relationship with the drummer's girlfriend Rikki Rockett, he was fired. Poison contacted Saraceno, who did the upcoming tour with the band and then became a member of the group.

In 1994 the group began work on the follow-up album to Native Tongue in Florida . The recordings were delayed by the singer Bret Michaels in a serious car accident and dragged on until 1995. In addition to numerous own titles, the group also recorded a cover version of the song Cover of the Rolling Stone by Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show on. When they handed over the material produced in this way to their record company, the Capitol management decided against publication. Instead, the compilation Greatest Hits 1986-1996 was released and expanded to include two tracks by Crack a Smile . Until 2000, Sexual Thing and Lay Your Body Down were the only two tracks on the supposed new Poison album that were made available to the public.

Capitol Records released Crack a Smile in March 2000 under the title Crack a Smile… And More . At this point Poison was no longer under contract with Capitol and had recorded a new album, which was to be released in June 2000 on the band's own label Cyanide Records. Crack a Smile… And More contained the songs originally intended for publication, the titles One More for the Bone and Set you Free, which were not part of the original track listing. Another title that was released was simply titled Crack a Smile Unfinished Demo and does not contain full text and has no real name. Also added to the album was the previously unreleased song Face the Hangman , which was released in 1988 for Open Up and Say… Ahh! was recorded. The MTV Unplugged tracks included were Your Mama Don't Dance, Every Rose has its Thorn, Unskinny Bop and Talk Dirty to Me.

Track list

1. (4:18) Best Thing You Ever Had (Bobby Dall / Bret Michaels / Rikki Rockett / Blues Saraceno)
2. (3:52) Shut up, Make Love (Bobby Dall / Bret Michaels / Rikki Rockett / Blues Saraceno)
3. (3:37) Baby Gets Around a Bit (Bobby Dall / Bret Michaels / Rikki Rockett / Blues Saraceno)
4. (3:09) Cover of the Rolling Stone ( Shel Silverstein / Silverstein)
5. (5:39) Be the One (Bobby Dall / Bret Michaels / Rikki Rockett / Blues Saraceno)
6. (2:42) Mr. Smiley (Bobby Dall / Bret Michaels / Rikki Rockett / Blues Saraceno)
7. (3:37) Sexual Thing (Bobby Dall / Bret Michaels / Rikki Rockett / Blues Saraceno)
8. (5:27) Lay Your Body Down (Bobby Dall / Bret Michaels / Rikki Rockett / Blues Saraceno)
9. (3:26) No Ring, No Gets (Bobby Dall / Bret Michaels / Rikki Rockett / Blues Saraceno)
10. (3:39) That's the Way (I Like It) (Bobby Dall / Bret Michaels / Rikki Rockett / Blues Saraceno)
11. (2:54) Tragically Unhip (Bobby Dall / Bret Michaels / Rikki Rockett / Blues Saraceno)
12. (2:52) Doin 'as I Seen on My TV (Bobby Dall / Bret Michaels / Rikki Rockett / Blues Saraceno)
13. (3:18) One More for the Bone (Bobby Dall / Bret Michaels / Rikki Rockett / Blues Saraceno)
14. (3:56) Set You Free (Bobby Dall / Bret Michaels / Rikki Rockett / Blues Saraceno)
15. (3:46) Crack a Smile Unfinished Demo (Bobby Dall / Bret Michaels / Rikki Rockett / Blues Saraceno)
16. (3:20) Face the Hangman Bobby Dall / CC DeVille / Bret Michaels / Rikki Rockett
17. (3:13) Your Mama Don't Dance ( Kenny Loggins / Jim Messina)
18. (4:37) Every Rose Has Its Thorn (Bobby Dall / CC DeVille / Bret Michaels / Rikki Rockett)
19. (4:02) Unskinny Bop (Bobby Dall / CC DeVille / Bret Michaels / Rikki Rockett)
20. (4:05) Talk Dirty to Me (Bobby Dall / CC DeVille / Bret Michaels / Rikki Rockett)

reception

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Albums

Crack a Smile… And More   US 131 04/01/2000 (1 week)

The album was not very successful, reaching number 131 on the Billboard 200 .

In 2000, Rock Hard wrote about Crack a Smile… And More, the band concentrated “less on optical effects than on good songs.” The album was “not a hit, but tracks like” the opener Best Thing You Ever Had , the driving Lay You Body Down or That's The Way I Like It are “definitely worth listening to.” But you couldn't “throw your own past overboard” like the “typical poison ballads” Be The One and Lay Your Body Down would prove. Such numbers would have "guaranteed heavy rotation on MTV in the past", but now force the listener to "only grin". Nevertheless, the band is "on the right track."

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Six strings & a coffin nail in: Rocks - The magazine for Classic Rock, issue 01/2013, pages 46–49
2. ↑ Booklet of the CD edition
3. ↑ Charts US
4. ↑ Thomas Kupfer in Rock Hard, Volume 109 (2000)