Sounding like a second rate "Cinderella". "Britny Fox" offered absolutely nothing new, and you would be hard pressed to hear the difference between them and similar contemporaries. First up is "In Motion". Basically a rehash of any song by Cinderella, all the cliches are present in this song. Grunting, quasi-blues Aerosmith riffing, and terrible over-heavy drums. Snooze. Next is "Standing In the Shadows". Vocalist "Dizzy" Davidson sounds just like Tom Keifer from Cinderella, but lacks any real lyrically depth or charisma. The song is certainly not awful, just totally average and falls into the archetype of heavy metal in 1989. But, one of the stronger songs on the album. Next is the totally unnecessary cover of Nazareth's "Hair Of The Dog". Guns and Roses did a much better version. I don't know why anyone would add a cover song to their second album, I guess that Britny was slightly starved for album length. Boring. "Livin On A Dream" is the band's attempt to match the stadium heights of Bon Jovi.Honestly, it is a terrible song. The riff is painfully basic, and the production is horrendous. The song sounds terrible, guitars are too loud and sound deflated and hollow, drums are out of time, and the solo makes you long for Poison it is so basic and short. Never mind the laughable lyrics. Ugh..make it over.
"She's So Lonely" is up next. The riff is honestly not bad, and would fit a Cinderella song quite well. My problem at this point lies with drummer "Johnny Dee". He has trouble staying in the groove, and I believe that he is one of the main reasons for everything sounding so off. He's either behind or ahead, the drums are not right. Other than that, the song is not that bad, despite terribly repetitive lyrics. "Dream On" is the standard acoustic-ish song that was featured on every hair metal album of the era. Basically Bon Jovi lite, the song is a poor imitation at best. Stick with New Jersey's second finest sons, rather than these also-rans. Lame and unoriginal, but somewhat listenable if you like Bon Jovi's "cowboy metal" phase. "Long Way from Home" closes side 1 (yes, I actually own the vinyl). Another Jovi copy, the road pinning song reflects of the difficulties of life and love on the road. Not terrible, despite sounding very much like something off 1988's "New Jersey" by Bon Jovi. Solos are just a sparse as Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora's, and really don't add much to the song. I like the non-grunting vocals, they show that one of the main problems is Dizzy's constant screeching and grunting, like Cinderella, it quickly overstays its welcome.
"Side 2" kicks in with "Plenty of Love". The song turns up the sleaze and brings back very heavy guitars. One of the best songs on the album, it shows that Britny could rock when they wanted. The drums are mostly in time, and Dizzy's vocals are much stronger and gritter here. Good tune, but still fairly standard sounding. Ballads are an essential part of the hair metal experience, and "Stevie" tries to check the "ballad box" that every record company exec in the 1980s needed to fill. Not really a ballad at all, it shows that one of the reasons explaining Britny's relative lack of success was their inability to write a sweet and sensitive song. One would think the song is about a girl next door type, but it is actually a very dark song about a "loose" woman going around on the town, and the terrible things that she's done. Not a big fan of this song, a nice attempt at a modern rehash of the "evil woman" blues ballad, but a very basic riff and repetitive choruses make me loose interest quickly. "Shine On" is the band's Van Halen tribute. Very much like "Runnin with the Devil" by said band, it lacks all of the virtuosity and originality that made Van Halen great. Like a trip to the dentist, you want it to be over the minute the song starts.
"Angel In My Heart" is Aerosmith-esque. The dual vocals work nice together, and the song is the closest attempt at a ballad on the album. Drums still suck, but finally the bass gets a chance to shine, and bassist "Billy Childs" actually shows that he is fairly good. Probably the best song on the album, I like this song, but not enough to save this album. "Left Me Stray" (nice grammar!) is so boring I have nothing to say. I can honestly find nothing to say about this song. Average in every sense of the word, it is at this point I beg for this album to be over. Not particularly offensive, but so trite I want to smash the record. Finally we are left with a ballad, "Longroad" (what's with the grammar?) is another Bon Jovi facsimile. Three basic chords dominate the song, and shows that these boys were never very good musicians, very basic at best. I was sleeping by this point. Boring. A better title would have been "Longalbum". So bad.
"Boys In Heat" is awful. There is no reason to own this album, unless you like torturing yourself. Poison, Cinderella, Motley Crue, and even Warrant are much better examples of good hair metal. Skip this one, terrible.
Rating-3.5/10
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