Flesh & Blood (Poison album)

Flesh & Blood is the third studio album by American glam metal band Poison, released on July 2, 1990,[7] through the Enigma label of Capitol Records. It peaked at number 2 on the Billboard charts[8] and more than 7.2 million copies were sold worldwide. It peaked at number 1 on the Cash Box charts.[9]

Flesh & Blood
Studio album by
Poison
ReleasedJuly 2, 1990
Recorded1989 - 1990
StudioLittle Mountain Sound Studios, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
GenreGlam metal[1]
Length57:38
Label
Producer
Poison chronology
Open Up and Say... Ahh!
(1988)		 Flesh & Blood
(1990)		 Swallow This Live
(1991)
Alternative cover
Original banned blood version
Singles from Flesh & Blood
  1. "Unskinny Bop"
    Released: June 18, 1990[2]
  2. "Something to Believe In"
    Released: September 4, 1990
  3. "Ride the Wind"
    Released: January 21, 1991
  4. "Life Goes On"
    Released: April 21, 1991
  5. "(Flesh & Blood) Sacrifice"
    Released: July 1991
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Entertainment WeeklyB−[4]
Rolling Stone[5]
Select[6]

The album was an attempt by the band to establish a more serious musical stance, more than just the hair metal party dynamic of 1988's Open Up and Say... Ahh!.[3] It spawned two top 10 singles, "Unskinny Bop" and "Something to Believe In" and three other hit singles, "Ride the Wind", "Life Goes On", and "(Flesh & Blood) Sacrifice".[10]

It was certified Platinum in 1990 and triple Platinum in 1991 by the RIAA.[11] It has been certified 4× Platinum by CAN and Gold by BPI.

Production and marketing

The album was recorded and mixed at Little Mountain Sound Studios, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with Canadian producer Bruce Fairbairn and mixer Mike Fraser.

The front cover art features the Poison logo and album title as a tattoo on drummer Rikki Rockett's arm. The cover was originally planned to have a slightly different version of the tattoo after being freshly inked, with inflamed red skin with dripping ink or blood. The original cover was released for the initial pressing in Japan but was removed from all later pressings including those in Japan. The record's marketing reflected the end of Poison's glam image, including excessive make-up and teased, girlish hair as with Look What the Cat Dragged In, instead being similar to Guns N' Roses.

Songs

Parts of the album are darker and more serious, including overcoming hard times, missing loved ones, long-term relationships, and mass sociopolitical disillusionment. Fun topics include sex, exhilaration from music or motorbikes, and tongue-in-cheek poverty. Some songs have a blues rock style.[3]

The meaning of the album's lead single "Unskinny Bop", one of the band's most popular songs, is obscure. DeVille later confessed that the phrase "unskinny bop" has no particular meaning. He devised it as a temporary measure while writing the song, before vocalist Bret Michaels had begun working on the lyrics. The phrase was used on the basis that it was phonetically suited to the music. The song was later played to producer Fairbairn, who stated that although he did not know what an "unskinny bop" was, the phrase was perfect.[12]

Accolades

Flesh & Blood was voted Best Album in Circus magazine's 1990 Readers' Poll, and the album's second single "Something to Believe In" was voted Best Single.[13]

The album yielded three Metal Edge Readers' Choice Awards in 1990: Album of the Year, and "Something to Believe In" for Song of the Year and Best Video.[14]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Bret Michaels, C.C. DeVille, Bobby Dall, and Rikki Rockett

No.TitleLength
1."Strange Days of Uncle Jack"1:40
2."Valley of Lost Souls"3:58
3."(Flesh & Blood) Sacrifice"4:40
4."Swampjuice (Soul-O)"1:25
5."Unskinny Bop"3:47
6."Let It Play"4:21
7."Life Goes On"4:47
8."Come Hell or High Water"5:01
9."Ride the Wind"3:50
10."Don't Give Up an Inch"3:43
11."Something to Believe In"5:28
12."Ball and Chain"4:22
13."Life Loves a Tragedy"5:14
14."Poor Boy Blues"[†]5:19
Total length:57:38
Bonus tracks on the 20th anniversary remaster:
No.TitleLyricsLength
15."Something to Believe In" (acoustic with new lyrics) 5:59
16."God Save the Queen" (instrumental; Sex Pistols cover)Glen Matlock, John Lydon, Paul Cook, Steve Jones2:47

^ † The 2006 reissue contains a mastering error, as the last few seconds of "Poor Boy Blues" are missing from this version.

Video album

Flesh, Blood, & Videotape is the second video compilation released by Poison, featuring the music videos from Flesh & Blood.

  1. "Let It Play" (Montage clip)
  2. "Unskinny Bop"
  3. "Ride the Wind"
  4. "Poor Boy Blues" (Montage clip)
  5. "Something to Believe In"
  6. "Life Goes On"
  7. "(Flesh & Blood) Sacrifice" (Uncensored version)

Personnel

Production

Charts
Weekly chart performance of Flesh & Blood
Chart (1990) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[15] 2
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[16] 17
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[17] 4
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[18] 88
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[19] 16
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[20] 31
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[21] 4
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[22] 11
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[23] 17
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[24] 11
UK Albums (OCC)[25] 3
US Billboard 200[26] 2
Year-end chart performance of Flesh & Blood
Chart (1990) Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[27] 45
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[28] 21
European Albums (Music & Media)[29] 98
US Billboard 200[30] 51

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[31] Platinum 70,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[32] 4× Platinum 400,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[33] Gold 7,500^
United Kingdom (BPI)[34] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[35] 3× Platinum 3,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. "Top 50 Glam Metal Albums". Metal Rules. Archived from the original on 26 November 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  2. "New Singles". Music Week. June 16, 1990. p. 31.
  3. Flesh & Blood at AllMusic
  4. Entertainment Weekly review
  5. Rolling Stone review
  6. Sexton, Paul (September 1990). "Poison: Flesh And Blood". Select. No. 3. p. 86.
  7. "American album certifications – Poison – Flesh & Blood". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  8. "Allmusic (Poison charts and awards) Billboard albums".
  9. "CASH BOX MAGAZINE: Music and coin machine magazine 1942 to 1996". worldradiohistory.com. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
  10. "Allmusic (Poison charts and awards) Billboard singles".
  11. "RIAA Gold & Platinum". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24.Retrieved 2010.
  12. Harper C, "In Samantha 7 Heaven: An Interview with C.C. DeVille of Samantha 7" Ink 19, Retrieved October 18, 2005.
  13. Circus, February 28, 1991
  14. Metal Edge, May 1991
  15. "Australiancharts.com – Poison – Flesh & Blood". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  16. "Austriancharts.at – Poison – Flesh & Blood" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  17. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 1340". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  18. "Dutchcharts.nl – Poison – Flesh & Blood" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  19. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 166. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  20. "Offiziellecharts.de – Poison – Flesh & Blood" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  21. "Charts.nz – Poison – Flesh & Blood". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  22. "Norwegiancharts.com – Poison – Flesh & Blood". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  23. "Swedishcharts.com – Poison – Flesh & Blood". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  24. "Swisscharts.com – Poison – Fleshh & Blood". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  25. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  26. "Poison Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  27. "ARIA Charts – End of Year Charts – Top 50 Albums 1990". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  28. "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1990". RPM. 12 December 1994. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  29. Bakker, Machgiel (22 December 1990). "1990 REVIEW: Music & Media Year -End Awards . European Top 100 Albums 1990" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 7, no. 51. pp. 29, 38. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  30. "Billboard 200 Albums - Year-end 1990". Billboard. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  31. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1990 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  32. "Canadian album certifications – Poison – Flesh & Blood". Music Canada. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  33. "New Zealand album certifications – Poison – Flesh & Blood". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  34. "British album certifications – Poison – Flesh & Blood". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  35. "American album certifications – Poison – Flesh & Blood". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
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