Slaughter - Stick It To Ya (LP)

In January 1990, when glam metal was still ruling afternoon music TV and Friday night radio, Slaughter arrived with a debut that sounded like pure neon. Stick It to Ya is the kind of record that reminds you why this stuff caught fire in the first place. The hooks land on first listen, the choruses are built for a crowd, and Mark Slaughter’s voice cuts through like a siren. It is a big, shiny rock album, but it is not empty. There is craft here, and a band that knew exactly how to line up brains, bravado and a stack of choruses.

The backstory gives it heft. Mark Slaughter and bassist Dana Strum had just walked away from Vinnie Vincent Invasion and carried their deal over to Chrysalis Records, then pieced together a new band with guitarist Tim Kelly and drummer Blas Elias. That kind of reset can sink a group, but it sharpened this one. The songwriting is tight, the performances clean and punchy. Slaughter and Strum took the production reins, keeping everything loud and bright, and you can hear that confidence in the way these songs kick out of the speakers.

The singles still do the heavy lifting. Up All Night is a perfect party anthem, lean on the verses and explosive in the refrain, with Kelly’s guitar slicing through the middle like a grin. The video blasted all over MTV, which helped push the album into the US Top 20 on the Billboard 200. Fly to the Angels is the emotional centre, a power ballad that actually earns the word power, built on a patient melody and a solo that aches more than it shows off. It went Top 20 in the States, and you can see why, it is one of those songs that college cover bands still reach for when the room needs a singalong. Spend My Life eased onto the charts too, a lighter flicker of a ballad that never tips into syrup. Even Mad About You, which did its damage on rock radio, has a brawny swing that keeps it from feeling like filler.

Part of the charm is in the balance. Tim Kelly’s tone is bright but never tinny, his leads full of melody, his rhythm work thick enough to give the hooks something to bite into. Strum and Blas lock the low end down with a tidy thump, stadium rock that could still breathe in a club. And Mark’s top end, that high, cutting tenor, is almost a second lead guitar. You hear it best on the pre-chorus turns, where he flips from a gritty verse line to a sky-scraping set up, then lands the chorus clean. This is a band that wrote for the stage. No surprise they spent 1990 on big stages, including a run with KISS on the Hot in the Shade tour, which turned their MTV heat into ticket stubs.

Commercially, it went exactly where the songs pointed. Stick It to Ya spun off multiple Top 40 hits, pushed the album into the US Top 20, and wound up certified multi-platinum. Slaughter picked up an American Music Award in 1991 for Favourite New Heavy Metal or Hard Rock Artist, a very era-specific trophy that fits this record like a leather glove. Critics were not always kind to glam by the early 90s, but even then the band drew nods for strong hooks and tight playing, and fans never stopped turning up for the choruses.

Put it on now and it still works. The production is of its time, bright and big, the snare proud in the mix, but the songs carry it. Eye to Eye and She Wants More come off like sleeper favourites on side two, and Thinking of June, a short, reflective piece, gives a breather that sets up the next hit. If you are crate digging and spot Stick It to Ya vinyl, grab it. Slaughter vinyl tends to be played but loved, so a clean copy feels like a small win. If you prefer to buy Slaughter records online, you will find a few well kept pressings floating around, and there is a solid reissue market for Slaughter albums on vinyl as well. I have even seen tidy copies turn up at my local Melbourne record store, which says something about how this album never really leaves the conversation for fans of late 80s and early 90s rock. For those hunting across vinyl records Australia, it is a staple that still gets spun on weekend afternoons.

Stick It to Ya is not trying to be clever or coy. It is a hits-first rock record, played by a band that knew how to write to the back row and still make the verses feel human. Thirty plus years on, it still feels like summer, car windows down, chorus up. That is not nostalgia talking, just a good song doing its job.