(Translated from my original Italian text by Gemini and Piero Scaruffi)

From a rib of the Guns N' Roses (guitarist Tracii Guns) there originated the L.A. Guns, led by singer Phil Lewis (once the frontman of the British band Girl). In 1988 they released a first album (for Polydor) which, despite the ritual tribute to the "glam-metal" of the era with No Mercy, was effectively a manual of hard rock riffs and choruses that in several places brings to mind the New York Dolls: the depraved boogie of Sex Action, the dizzying rhythm and blues of Nothing To Lose.
The quintet pushes its way with brutal elegance through a forest of stereotypes, without skimping on showy effects, from the martial Shoot For Thrills to the melodic Electric Gypsy. The sounds of this record constitute, moreover, a natural connecting link between the neuroses of the 1950s (Down In The City to the point of exhaustion) and those of the 1980s (Bitch Is Black, a la Guns N' Roses). Infinitely less violent and theatrical than the contemporary works of Guns N' Roses and Jane's Addiction, the first chapter of L.A. Guns remains nonetheless an equally accomplished testament of the "street" generation.

The subsequent Cocked And Loaded (1989), with the new anthem Slap In The Face and especially the bluesy digressions of 17 Crash, was a work of transition, but one that gave them their greatest success, The Ballad of Jayne.

Hollywood Vampires (Polydor, 1991) presents an imaginative and vibrant sound, unpredictable and full-bodied, even mystical in the languid and hypnotic chords of Over The Edge and outright sentimental in the serenade of Crystal Eyes; in which the blues, soul, rockabilly, and pop roots are not hidden but exposed, without fear of citing Aerosmith (Kiss My Love Goodbye), Led Zeppelin (Dirty Luv a la Immigrant Song) and infinite saloon combos (the overwhelming Snake Eyes Boogie). The group had reached full maturity.

Vicious Circle (Polydor, 1995) attempts to return to the wild sound of their debut.

L.A. Guns had followed a coherent and suggestive arc, always remaining on the margins of the main trends of the Los Angeles show business. Theirs was always a high-class hard rock, little related to the exhibitionism of their colleagues.

The band returned out of the blue with Shrinking Violet (Perris, 1999), an album that is mostly pathetic nostalgy of the sex-crazed heroes (Girl You Turn Me On and Big Lil' Thing) and only occasionally finds again the spark of the old days (Decide and Big Lil' Thing), and with Walking The Dead (Spitfire, 2002).