Bad English - Bad English

Bad English falls somewhere between the arena rock of the Journey and Styx crowd and the hair metal of Slippery When Wet era Bon Jovi. This is not surprising because the band is comprised of former members of Journey and The Babys. There is a definite Journey-esque lilt to the band's approach, but they also managed to cash in on the most universally appealing trend of the hair metal era: the power ballad. Because The Babys' "Missing You" and Journey's "Faithfully" were both a mere stone's throw from mega-hits like "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" it made sense for these guys to get together, turn up the amps a little bit, and churn out one of the best ballads of the era in "When I See You Smile."

Aside from the obvious mega-hit on this album, there are a few surprises. You get bona fide metal rockers like "Forget Me Not" and "Ready When You Are," not to mention the overlooked ballad "Price of Love." When you think about it, the guys in Bad English already had dozens of hits with their original bands before they ever hit the studio to cut this album. It makes sense that such veterans would crank out a decent album. It makes sense, but it often isn't the case (see: Velvet Revolver), which makes the success of this album all the more impressive.

Baleeted? Don't ask me right now. I'm totally slow dancing to this.