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Pretty Boy Floyd: Public Enemies
Pretty Boy Floyd - Public Enemies CD Album Review

Pretty Boy Floyd Public Enemies

Melodic Glam/Sleaze Hard Rock
4.0/5.0

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Frontiers Music
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 29.11.2017

While my recollection of the multitude of glam hair bands in the late Eighties can be a bit fuzzy, I do recall Hollywood's Pretty Boy Floyd for several reasons. One was simply the band name from the famous Depression gangster. The second is that they attempted to put the glamour back into glam and sleaze rock. They were more outrageous and androgynous than either Poison or Motley Crue. Third they were often dismissed by many as clones of the same. (But that could be said for a hundred other bands.) Finally, I remember their debut album Leather Boyz with Electric Toyz, which shot off like a bottle rocket in 1989, only to fizzle out when the band disbanded in 1991. But Pretty Boy Floyd regrouped, twice, and continues to soldier on, dropping their new studio album Public Enemies.

Pretty Boy Floyd Band Photo

Pretty Boy Floyd

It doesn't take rocket science to define the Pretty Boy Floyd sound. I already gave it away in the above paragraph. Theirs is quintessential Eighties melodic hard rock, with the glam and sleaze angle, and a punk rock attitude. Public Enemies may have 14 songs but it moves along at a brisk pace with emphasis on clean melodies, strong vocal harmonies, energetic rock groove, sizzling guitar solos, and zesty hooks in each arrangement, notably in the refrains. In that song composition, Pretty Boy Floyd packs a lot into mostly three minute tunes. In the mix, vocalist Steve Summers sounds like a higher pitched Bret Michaels, but with a better punk sneer to his timbre and delivery.

As for the songs, they're mostly straight punk hard rockers like High School Queen, Girls All Over The World, So Young So Bad, and Run For Your Life, which also has a spirited metal edge. Then there's the arena anthems such as Shock The World, Do Ya Wanna Rock, and We Got The Power, something of a rock n roll motivational song. Of course, being an Eightes hair band, you need a power ballad, and that comes with We Can't Bring Back Yesterday. It's a catchy tune, with a killer guitar solo, and perhaps a self-inflicted reminder to the band of their past.

Overall, Pretty Boy Floyd's Public Enemies is a blast from the past, a fresh reminder of what music and life was like on LA's Sunset Strip in 1989. I also think fans might find Public Enemies on par with, possibly even superior to, Leather Boyz with Electric Toyz. We'll see what we'll see about that. Recommended.



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The Bottom Line

Overall, Pretty Boy Floyd's Public Enemies is a blast from the past, a fresh reminder of what music and life was like on LA's Sunset Strip in 1989. I also think fans might find Public Enemies on par with, possibly even superior to, Leather Boyz with Electric Toyz. We'll see what we'll see about that. Recommended.

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