''Beautiful Creatures'' is the debut studio album by American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band Beautiful Creatures. It was produced by

Sean Beavan Sean Beavan is a musician, record producer, and audio engineer best known for his work with Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, Guns N' Roses, God Lives Underwater, and Slayer. His production style is typically heavy, with heavily saturated ...

at Bay 7 Studios in

Valley Village, Los Angeles Valley Village is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, located within the San Fernando Valley. History Founding According to Elke Garman, co-president of the Valley Village Homeowners Association in 1991, the history of Valley Village w ...

, and was released on August 16, 2001, through

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

. The album peaked at number 29 on the ''Billboard'' Top Heatseekers, while the single "Wasted" peaked at number 37 on the

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" ...

. Following the release of the album, Beautiful Creatures went on to promote the album, performing at

Ozzfest Ozzfest was an annual music festival tour of the United States and sometimes Europe and later Japan, featuring performances by many heavy metal music, heavy metal and hard rock musical groups. It was founded by Sharon Osbourne and her husband O ...

2001, from June 8 – August 12, 2001, the Rolling Rock Tour as well performing in Japan. The album received mixed reviews.

Background

Former

BulletBoys BulletBoys is an American hard rock/glam metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1987. The group's original lineup was composed of singer Marq Torien (formerly of Ratt, King Kobra, and Kagny & the Dirty Rats), guitarist Mick Sweda (formerly of King ...

guitarist DJ Ashba and

Bang Tango Bang Tango is an American hard rock band. The band was formed in Los Angeles in 1988 and was signed to MCA Records the same year. History Formation (1988) Initially the band was founded by guitarist Mark Knight and bassist Kyle Kyle in 1 ...

vocalist Joe LeSte first formed Beautiful Creatures, initially as Hellstar, in 1999. After adding bassist

Kenny Kweens Kenny Kweens is an American musician. He is best known as the bassist in the hard rock band Beautiful Creatures. In 2009, Kweens also joined L.A. Guns (fronted by Phil Lewis), replacing previous bassist Scott Griffin. However, in 2011, Kweens ...

, guitarist

Anthony Focx Beautiful Creatures (sometimes abbreviated as BC) is an American hard rock band formed in 1999 by guitarist DJ Ashba and singer Joe Lesté of Bang Tango. The group's current lineup is composed of Lesté (lead vocals), Alex Grossi (lead gui ...

and drummer

Glen Sobel Glen Sobel (born December 27, 1970) is an American drummer who has performed and recorded in many different genres. Mainly known for being the drummer for Alice Cooper since 2011, Sobel has worked with other musicians/groups, including Mötley ...

, the band opened for

Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

during their reunion tour and, after one show, changed their name to Beautiful Creatures. After signing with

, the band began recording their album with producer

at Bay 7 Studios,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Critical reception

''Beautiful Creatures'' received generally mixed reviews upon release. Reviewing the album for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, Tom Semioli complimented on their "overwhelming appeal

hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...

lies in their command of traditional pop/rock songcraft bolstered by expert musicianship" and that "the songs found on this self-titled first offering would be praiseworthy in any genre." Mike Bell of

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stated the band were similar to

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...

and that they were "borrowing unapologetically and gluttonously from the Big Book of Rock Cliches." However, he also felt that "there's still something to them that you can't help but enjoy." ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'' reviewer Craig Daniels stated that "the opening song, "1 A.M.," could easily be mistaken for vintage G'n'R, and actually stands alone as a pretty solid little rocker" and that LeSte "alternates from an

AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...

growl to an Axl howl." Andrew Ellis, reviewing for ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

'', described the album as "a rough and ready collection of uninspiring rockers, old school guitar licks and gravelly vocals" that "attempts to merge the aggression, street sass and sound of the incomparable ''

Appetite for Destruction ''Appetite for Destruction'' is the debut studio album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, released on July 21, 1987, by Geffen Records. It initially received little mainstream attention, and it was not until the following year that ''App ...

'' with the modern leanings of the contemporary rock scene." Though he states that "there's plenty of effort and determination shown by the band on solid rockers like "1 AM" and "Kick Out"" there was a "distinct lack of originality throughout the album."

Accolades

Track listing

Charts

Personnel

All information is excerpted from the album's stated information and

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Beautiful Creatures

* Joe LeSte – lead vocals, backing vocals * DJ Ashba – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals *

– rhythm guitar, backing vocals *

– bass, backing vocals *

– drums, backing vocals

Production

– producer, engineer, mixer * Ed Roth – producer, keyboard * Matt Ellingsen – engineer * Eric Miller – engineer * Jim Monti – assistant engineer * Daniel M. Serta – assistant engineer *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' '' Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Early life ...

– mastering * Jeff Blue – A&R * Natalie Preston – A&R coordination * Frank Maddocks – art direction, design * James Minchin III – photography * Melanie Nissen – photography

References

{{Authority control 2001 debut albums Albums produced by Sean Beavan Beautiful Creatures (band) albums Warner Records albums