CoronaVinyl Day 25 (Rock): Open Up and Say . . . Ahh! by Poison

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Today's CoronaVinyl category is rock, and since it's Hair Band Friday, I decided to make my life easier by choosing a hair band vinyl album, rather than attempting to choose from the hundreds of rock albums I have.

I went with Poison's 1988 smash hit Open Up and Say . . . Ahh!, which was the band's most successful album.  It has gone platinum five times in the U.S., and it reached #2 on the Billboard album charts.  On top of that, all four singles released from the album reached the Top 12 of the Billboard Hot 100, led by the band's signature song, the lovelorn power ballad "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," which topped the charts for three weeks in late 1988 and early 1989.  In addition, "Nothin' But a Good Time" (#6), their cover of Loggins & Messina's "Your Mama Don't Dance" (#10), and "Fallen Angel" (#12) were all hits.

As you can see from the photo above, I have two copies of the album, with different album covers.  The original cover (the one on the right) featured a demonic model with a giant red tongue, looking like she was ready to devour all the nice little Christian boys and girls in America.  But this was the era of the PMRC and parents believing hard rock and metal were the devil's music, so after some uproar from parent groups, the band changed the cover to the one on the left, showing only the Cat People-esque eyes.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the band's show at Wrigley Field with Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe, and Joan Jett (currently scheduled for August 28) will go forward as planned, as I have pretty decent tickets, and I'm really looking forward to it.

Favorite song from Side 1:  "Nothin' But a Good Time"
The band's second Top 10 hit -- after 1987's "Talk Dirty To Me" -- "Nothin' But a Good Time" is a fun-loving rock and roll song about working hard and wanting to do great things despite having a shitty job at the moment.  It's also about having a good time.

Favorite song from Side 2:  "Fallen Angel"
"Fallen Angel" is my favorite Poison song.  It's the all-too-familiar '80s story about a small-town woman with unrealistic dreams and self-worth who comes to L.A. to find fame and fortune, only to realize that living out your dreams comes at a price:  your friends, your family, your pride, and your soul.