Open Up and Say… Ahh!

Open Up and Say… Ahh!
Studio album by Poison
Publication (s)	1988
Label (s)	Columbia Records , Sony (Japan)
Format (s)	LP , CD
Genre (s)	Glam metal
Title (number)	10 (reprint: 12)
occupation	Bret Michaels - vocals CC DeVille - guitar Bobby Dall - electric bass Rikki Rockett - drums
production	Tom Werman
chronology Look What the Cat Dragged In 1986 Open Up and Say… Ahh! Flesh & Blood 1990

Open Up and Say… Ahh! is the second studio album by the American glam metal band Poison , released in 1988 . It was the group's first successful album in Europe and is the most successful album the band has ever released there in the US: It reached number two on the Billboard album charts . With the title Your Mama Don't Dance it contains the cover version of a top ten hit by the singer-songwriter duo Loggins and Messina from 1972. Poison also managed to place this title in the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 .

background

The band's debut album , Look What the Cat Dragged In , not only generated initial attention for Poison in the US, but also catapulted the band into the album charts , where it reached number three on May 23, 1987 and lasted a total of 101 weeks held in the hit list. The singles were also extremely successful for a debut: Talk Dirty to me reached number ten, I Won't Forget You number 13 and I Want Action still number 50 on the Billboard Hot 100 .

The follow-up album was created in the winter of 1988/1989 at Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles . Originally Paul Stanley (singer and guitarist of Kiss ) should take over the production , but had to decline. Tom Werman, who had already worked with Ted Nugent , Cheap Trick , Twisted Sister and Mötley Crüe , was hired instead . The album was released on May 3, 1988, the first single was the title Nothin 'But a Good Time .

Controversy over the cover

Originally, the cover of the album was supposed to show the face of a woman, made up as a tiger, who stuck out a long, pointed tongue. However, after Christian organizations in particular criticized this cover in the USA, the image was subsequently covered so that only the woman's eyes could be seen. However, since the album was reissued in 2006, the original image has been used again.

reception

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Albums

Open Up and say ... Ahh   US 2 06/18/1988 (68 weeks)   UK 18th May 21, 1988 (21 weeks)

Singles

Every Rose Has It's Thorn   US 1 December 24, 1988 (21 weeks)   UK 13 02/11/1989 (9 weeks)   DE 38 01/23/1989 (12 weeks) Notin ', but a good time   US 6th 06/18/1988 (38 weeks)   UK 35 05/07/1988 (3 weeks) Fallen Angel   US 12 10/08/1988 (16 weeks)   UK 59 05/11/1988 (2 weeks) Your Mama Don't Dance   US 10 04/15/1989 (14 weeks)   UK 13 04/29/1989 (7 weeks)

Holger Stratmann from the German magazine Rock Hard wrote Poison played in his eyes only "cheap, ridiculous 08 / 15- Rock'n'Roll without any rough edges that in America, although 13-year-old dreamy teenager in Ecstasy" Be moved, but " serious HM fans in Europe would be more likely to cause attacks of aggression ”. Except for the "sappy but still acceptable ballad" Every Rose Has It's Thorn , it is a matter of "flabby, meaningless, polished rock'n'roll".

Allmusic's Steve Huey commented that the album stabilized the group's status as "hair metal's top party band." The titles not released as single like Love on the Rocks , Good Love , and Look But You Can't Touch would help next to the hits, Open Up and Say… Ahh! to make "Poison's best album".

Open Up and Say… Ahh! has been awarded platinum several times , for the first time on June 28, 1988. Further awards followed on September 20 and November 10, 1988 (double or triple platinum), as well as on January 5, 1989 and most recently on October 21, 1991, when the Album went platinum five times.

Track list

With the exception of Your Mama Don't Dance , all tracks were written by Bret Michaels , CC DeVille , Bobby Dall, and Rikki Rockett .

1. Love on the Rocks - 3:33
2. Nothin ', but a Good Time - 3:48
3. Back to the Rocking Horse - 3:35
4. Good Love - 2:52
5. Tearin 'Down the Walls - 3:51
6. Look But You Can't Touch - 3:26
7. Fallen Angel - 3:57
8. Every Rose Has Its Thorn - 4:20
9. Your Mama Don't Dance ( Kenny Loggins , Jim Messina) - 3:00
10. Bad to Be Good - 4:05

Bonus title of the 20th Anniversary remake (2006):

11. Livin for the minute - 2:45
12. World Premiere Interview (radio interview)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ [1] Billboard.com: Album charts for Poison
2. ↑ [2] Billboard.com: Single Charts for Poison
3. ↑ Charts DE Charts UK Charts US
4. ^ Jenny Rönnebeck: Hair Metal . »We didn't just want to be an image« . In: Rock Hard , No. 310, March 2013, p. 38.
5. ↑ Steve Huey: Open Up and Say ... Ahh! - Poison , accessed March 24, 2013.
6. ^ RIAA awards database