Danger Danger - Screw It! (1991)

Just like any musical movement, when such glam metal pretty boys as Poison and Ratt hit the big time in the late '80s, numerous copycat acts followed in their path; one being Danger Danger. Like the aforementioned bands, the quintet – Ted Poley (vocals), Andy Timmons (guitar), Bruno Ravel (bass), Steve West (drums), and Kasey Smith (keyboards) – mixed pop hooks and good looks with hard-edged guitar riffs, landing a deal with Epic in 1989. The same year saw the release of the group's self-titled debut, spawning the single/video "Naughty Naughty," which enjoyed a few airings on MTV's Headbanger's Ball program. The album failed to break the group through to the big time, but the group stuck to their guns and issued further albums: 1992's Screw It, 1995's Dawn, 1998's Four the Hard Way, and 2000's Return of the Great.

Talk about releasing an album at the wrong time. In late 1991, it seemed like rock audiences worldwide had finally thrown up their hands in disgust with the fourth-rate hair metal bands that MTV and radio were pushing on the public, and in response, welcomed the likes of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden with open arms. As a result, several hair metal bands that just a year or two earlier seemed like "the next big thing" within their genre were suddenly rendered obsolete – including Danger Danger, who issued their sophomore effort, Screw It!, in October of 1991. Everything that a rock band could have done to seem like a total and utter anomaly was in place – a sexist album cover (a buxom blonde riding in the lap of a huge biker-gorilla) and such oh-so-poetic song titles as "Slipped Her the Big One" and "Horny S.O.B" (not to mention the album's double-entendre title). Yes, folks, there's very little in the originality department here (they even steal a song title from Van Halen, with "Everybody Wants Some"), while the music overall appears to have been constructed in hopes of pleasing both the mainstream pop audience and hair-sprayed headbangers. As evidenced by releases like Screw It!, Kurt Cobain and company thankfully helped pull the plug on hair metal at exactly the right time.