In light of the reunions and ongoing glam-fad in Sweden, not really surprising to see this, the second (yet never officially issued) platter by 80s Cali glamsters Vain hit the shelves. Singer Davy Vain has gone on to have a successful producing career (actually did the Death Angel debut!), as well as appearing on the odd album, every once in a while (last year’s Delany project comes to mind, alongside David ‘Pink Cream 69’ Readman).

Always had a soft spot for the band (not because I like the music), as it was the first CD received for review, in the era when vinyl was being replaced (and later fetched nearly $200 USD for me on Ebay!). No such fond memories of my first MP3 download though. Initially, this was to be the San Fran outfit’s follow-up to the ’89 Island Records debut ("No Respect"), yet by the time the music was ready, the label’s collapse and grunge tidal wave prevented "All Those Strangers" from seeing the light of day, until now. As such, it’s sort of a time capsule of a bygone era, tales of relationships (sex) and carefree partying, all delivered in Vain’s (singer’s) nasally, post-Vince Neil whiny wail. Always best at up tempo numbers, which are too few within the current eleven (‘Love Drug’ opener, ‘Wake Up’, the profanity laced ‘Freak Flag’ and concluding ‘Looking Glass’), fans of the debut won’t be disappointed, although obvious attempts to showcase songwriting, vocal prowess and musicianship are trotted out, with only small degrees of success (see acoustic begun ‘Shouldn’t Cry’ or ‘Planets Turning’ for negative examples, while the ballads ‘It’s Too Bad’ and ‘Here Comes Lonely’ demonstrate what they can/could do, sort of ‘Who’s Watching You’ part 2).