THE ELECTRIC MAGIC SIDESHOW -

THE ELECTRIC MAGIC SIDESHOW - GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU - FASTLANE
It would be all too easy to call this bunch of ragedy rockers glam. Then again considering their over-the-top image the New Yorkers are visually better described as Rogue Male crossed with Slave Raider. Remember those acts? If not, imagine a bunch of pirates-gone-glam.
On the musical front, the album leaves this writer in a decidedly ambivalent mood. On the one hand the band's tried, true and stone-washed Kiss/Poison/Killer Dwarfs sound is a great antidote to the rap rock kerrap of the day. On the other, the troupe hardly adds anything - that is absolutely nothing - to the genre. Furthermore the songs are minimalistic. They come across as lacking a rhythm guitar here, a backing vocal or solo there. The four are indeed good musicians who can handle their instruments, but the flair is missing. Perhaps, given the moniker, The Electric Magic Side Show (as the CD calls them) has to be seen as well as heard. Glam god knows enough work has gone into the band's looks.
Fans of guitar-driven light hard rock a la Kiss, Crüe (catch the main riff from Crüe's Bitter Pill on Got To Chose) or Sweet should give this show a visit. Oh, is that Paul Stanley on vocals? - Ali "The Metallian"