The bottom line is that no matter what, Jamie Allen is a Poison tribute front man - Now you've either read that and pressed the back button or you're arching an eyebrow and are slightly intrigued.........

This is actually pretty damn good BUT you simply cannot escape the voice and vibe of this whole disc. Poison simply ooze through every chord. Some might actually say it's better than Bret Michaels' solo stuff and latter day Poison efforts. Poison were the bad apple in many people's eyes but listening to Jamie Allen makes you realise that they occasionally did some great stuff and Michaels was a good front man and worked well with what he had and what he did.

Jamie wants to be the lead singer in Poison so much it's painful, but he's written some great songs that C.C. and the boys would be proud of. Stereotypical blue collar working man rock, songs about love and lost love and, without saying, The American Dream are all transformed into a slice of 'Open Up And Say... Ahh!' era stadium rockers. 'Smoke And Mirrors', 'That's Rock And Roll' and 'The Way I Roll' are a great introduction to this debut disc. You want ballads?? Course you do, you're a Poison fan. He's got two for you lucky peeps, 'Reminiscin' and 'I'm On My Way' - both so sugar coated you'll be high as a kid with ADHD let loose on a bag of Haribo, but both are heartfelt and proof that Jamie does heart, soul and rock in equal measure.

'Back In The Day' gives us a little Bret talk halfway through the song and he even talks like him for fuck's sake! 'Ghost Of My Hometown' is another great track that stands out. The whole disc is packed with great songs (10 out of 12 in my book) and makes you realise that Michaels, Ball, Deville and Rockett really do need a kick up the arse.

It's hard to be truly objective when not only does Jamie Allen sound like Bret Michaels but he also dresses like him giving you a feeling that he's happy in this skin but he'll never shed that comparison and be individual until he does change. Regardless of the comparisons, Poison fans missing new material should snap this up as soon as possible - Jamie probably cares more about that band than ¾ of the band out there doing the Crue tour....and that's quite sad.

www.jamieallenrocks.com