Glam rock/hair metal, or whatever you want to call it, is all about excess and outrageousness. This is one constant that permeates every aspect of the genre, from the clothes to the music, to the lifestyle and I admit it, I love this genre of music. You will find that I use the word outrageous many times throughout this review. That is because, at the time, Nitro’s mandate was to be the most outrageous band ever and, to their credit, they are exactly as they advertise themselves to be. Nobody sings higher than vocalist Jim Gillette and few people shred like guitarist Michael Angelo. That being said, I expected huge things from this band when I got this CD as I love high pitched vocals and ripping guitar solos. However, if listening to Nitro has taught me anything, it is that there is truth to the saying that “you can have too much of a good thing”.

Lets start with their image. These guys are all glamed out to the max so it is needless to say that they all look ridiculous. Not only that, but they have names like T.J. Racer and Bobby Rock. These guys make Poison look like they dress conservatively. Michael Angelo (painter or Ninja Turtle?) is posing with his “outrageous” 4-necked guitar and Jim Gillette has so many studs on his leather outfit that he puts Rob Halford to shame. This is not a problem for me though as their image is simply a gimmick and I don’t listen to music for the gimmick, I listen to it for the music. But one thing is for sure, these guys are outrageous.

O.F.R. stands for “Out-Fucking-Rageous” and I suppose this describes their brand of music accurately in many ways. Firstly, the production is outrageous, as it is all treble and no bass. It makes Metallica’s And Justice For All sound bass heavy! Secondly, the vocals are outrageous and Jim Gillette hits high notes in frequencies that human ears were not meant to hear, at least not comfortably anyway. Imagine King Diamond singing cheesy songs in only his nasal high pitched falsetto. Then, imagine it sucking really, really badly. On Long Way From Home, Gillette doesn’t his shriek that much, which is surprising as he excersises even less restraint on when to use this voice than King Diamond does. However, his voice is still incredibly nasally and it reminds me a bit of a mix of Kix and Enuff Z’nuff, only it sucks really badly. When he growls on Fighting Mad, he sounds a bit like Udo Dirkschneider, only it sucks real badly. Due to the thin sound created by the lightweight production, the gang vocals and the vocal harmonies sound incredibly weak, adding zero attitude and intensity to the songs. In fact, they make Nitro sound like a bunch of sissies and it is quite comical, as the high-pitched harmonies sound a bit like a girls choir on speed.

The guitars are, you guessed it, outrageous. There is nothing tasteful about the shredding on this album and while it lacks the melody required to be considered excellent guitar work, compared to the “outrageous vocals”, the guitar work is well done. This means nothing though, as when compared to the vocals, even the band’s outfits and names can be considered well done. Michael Angelo is a fast shredder but his work lacks the variety, melody and depth for him to be considered anything more. The bass is pretty much a non-factor thanks to the mix but the drums are strong and easily the best part of the album.

Anything that could remotely be considered cool on this album is negated because of the tinny production and how bad the vocals are. Making matters worse is the fact that all of this is done intentionally for the sake of being outrageous. These guys are a prime example of why hair bands are considered a joke by all but the most hardcore fans (in my opinion, this is usually an unfair judgement but not in Nitro’s case) of the genre as Nitro is a perversion of outrageousness and excess. These guys are a joke but the real joke is on suckers like me that actually paid money for this CD. Out-Fucking-Rageous indeed, but what is really outrageous is the fact that these guys got a record deal and haven’t publicly apologised for making music this bad.