''Crack a Smile... and More!'' is the fifth studio album from the 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

Poison A poison is any chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figurati ...

. The record was released on March 14, 2000. The album features guitarist

Blues Saraceno Blues Saraceno (born October 17, 1971) is an American rock guitarist, composer and music producer, currently residing in Los Angeles, California. He was discovered by ''Guitar for the Practicing Musician'' magazine at the age of 16, which assis ...

, who was hired as the band's new lead guitarist following the firing of

Richie Kotzen Richard Dale Kotzen Jr. (born February 3, 1970) is an American rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter. As a solo artist, Kotzen has a back catalogue of more than 20 album releases. He was signed to California-based Shrapnel Records from 1988 to ...

in late 1993. Saraceno appeared on the band's last album release '' Poison's Greatest Hits: 1986–1996'' in 1996, which featured two new tracks with him on lead guitar. Those two new tracks re-appear on this album along with thirteen new songs and five bonus tracks. The album moved around 12,000 copies in its first week of release to debut at #131 on the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart.

Musical style

''Crack a Smile'', while replete with guitar performances comparable with those on Poison's previous studio record, '' Native Tongue'', contains few traces of the seriousness of that record.

Production and marketing

The life cycle of ''Crack a Smile'', which began in 1994, was brought to an abrupt halt in May 1994, when

vocalist Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

Bret Michaels Bret Michael Sychak (born March 15, 1963), known professionally as Bret Michaels, is an American singer and musician. He is the frontman of rock band Poison, which has sold over 65 million albums worldwide and 30 million records in the United St ...

lost control of his

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...

. Michaels suffered a broken nose, ribs, jaw and fingers, and lost four teeth. After his recovery, the band continued recording in 1995. However, to the band's dismay, Capitol Records had by this time decided to put the album "on hold", and instead released a Greatest Hits record in 1996. It was not until March 14, 2000, that the record was finally released. The album's eventual release was prompted by strong fan demand, with promotional copies and bootlegs selling for $50 or more. In order to compete with the bootleg release, Capitol took the unusual step of throwing in additional bonus tracks to the album. The bootleg version of the album contained the original 12 album tracks, 6 songs from Poison's

MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV. It showcases recorded live performances of popular music artists playing acoustic instrument, acoustic or "unplugged" variations of songs. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999. F ...

performance, and their cover of the

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 ...

classic "

Rock and Roll All Nite "Rock and Roll All Nite" is a song by American rock band Kiss, released in 1975 as the first single from their third studio album '' Dressed to Kill''. The studio version of the song peaked at No. 68 on the ''Billboard'' singles chart, besting ...

." The final version of the album, titled ''Crack a Smile...and More!'', contained the original 12 album tracks, two studio outtakes, one unnamed demo, "Face the Hangman" (previously released only as a B-side on European singles for "

Every Rose Has Its Thorn "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" is a power ballad by American glam metal band Poison. It was released in October 1988 as the third single from Poison's second album '' Open Up and Say... Ahh!''. The band's signature song, it is also their only number ...

"), and four of the songs from ''

''. Saraceno was given considerable creative freedom and his writing and performing contributions dominated the album. The album's studio tracks were recorded at ''Devonshire Studios'',

Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and district in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. ...

. Saraceno plays on these new songs (tracks 1–15), and original guitarist

C.C. DeVille Bruce Anthony Johannesson (born May 14, 1962), known professionally as C.C. DeVille, is an American musician, best known as the guitarist of the rock band Poison. The band has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide, including 15 million in ...

plays on the remaining bonus tracks, which are tracks recorded before this time. The songs "Sexual Thing" and "Lay Your Body Down" were first released on '' Poison's Greatest Hits: 1986–1996'' as bonus new tracks.

Songs

" Shut Up, Make Love", which is the first single presented to radio stations, is a raunchy party anthem. "Be the One" (second promo single) and "Lay Your Body Down" are classic power ballads. "Best Thing You Ever Had" brings harmonica and piano to the forefront, while guitarist Blues Saraceno lives up to his name on "Mr. Smiley" and "That's the Way I Like It." The band goes all-out punk on "Doin' as I Seen on My TV," returning to vintage Poison on "Sexual Thing," and "Baby Gets Around a Bit". It also delivers an inebriated version of Dr. Hook's " Cover of the Rolling Stone."

Track listing

Personnel

– lead vocals, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards *

Rikki Rockett Richard Allan Ream (born August 8, 1961), known professionally as Rikki Rockett, is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the band Poison. The band has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide and 15 million records in the Unite ...

– drums, percussion *

Bobby Dall Robert Harry Kuykendall, also known as Bobby Dall (born November 2, 1963), is an American musician best known as the bassist for the rock band Poison. Dall had ambitions of studying law, but ultimately turned to music instead. He began playing ...

– bass, backing vocals *

– lead guitar, piano, backing vocals

Additional personnel

– Acoustic Guitar (bonus tracks 16–20 - recorded earlier) * Duane Baron – Producer, Engineer * Kevin Flaherty – Producer, Liner Notes, Compilation * Sam Gay – Art Direction * Cindy Malig – Production Coordination * Frank Micelotta – Photography *

John Purdell John Purdell (July 8, 1959 – July 10, 2003) was an American keyboardist, songwriter, music engineer, and multi-platinum rock music record producer who is credited on such albums as Ozzy Osbourne's '' No More Tears'' (1991) and Dream Theate ...

– Producer, Engineer * Nitin Vadukul – Cover Photo * Tom Werman – Producer * Evren Göknar – Mastering Engineer

Singles

* " Shut Up, Make Love" * "Be the One"

Charts

References

External links

Official website
* * {{Authority control Poison (American band) albums 2000 albums Albums produced by John Purdell Albums produced by Duane Baron Capitol Records albums