Guitar wizard George Lynch is probably known to most as the driving axe-force behind Dokken. After the aforementioned band disbanded for a while in the late 1980s Lynch and Dokken’s drummer Mick Brown got together with bassist Anthony Esposito and singer Oni Logan to form Lynch Mob.

Egotistical or not, I really like the name of the band. Name-derived bands have a tendency of being awesome – take Van Halen. Lynch rips it up on the guitar with both powerful riffing and soloing that leaves any amateur blitzed out of their minds. However, I must point out that this album is not a total George Lynch-guitarwank-Open Air Show. The songs are grabbing, as is the bands playing. The rhythm section beats out tightly as a mofo and the reason I felt necessary to add “groovy” onto the genre label there, is that this album really gells on the groove side as well. Much more so than the average cock rock-album that this record can reasonably be lumped in with for the lyrical content and hair-dos in the inner sleeves.

Yes, the songs tell us about two things in gross generalization – tough-ass street life and pussy. With emphasis on the latter. Several lines repeat themselves in different songs so don’t let that get to you too much. Logan is a very capable singer with pipes to spare. I’d say he reminds me of a bit toned-down Sebastian Bach in his prime. The tone is similar, although Bach’s wails are much more over the top.

The songs have a lot of good variety between each other. The title track and River Of Love rock hard and quickly with excellent choruses for furious sing-alongs. Sweet Sister Mercy and Dance Of The Dogs roll ya down with a mid-tempo feel that keeps the fist banging and the hair shaking while the Aqua-Net is shook out of the way of more smoking guitar leads. The “mandatory” power ballad of the record, Through These Eyes , is about the only weak spot on the album. Guys, it’s good that for the remainder of the album you left this tough craft to Winger. The groovy rocking on display here is much better. Luckily, Street Fightin’ Man does just that as Lynch scorches the walls down once again. Good hooks stick to ya throughout the album and a jamming vibe, even slightly bluesy at times, is constantly present. The big harmony vocals in the choruses don't quite reach Mutt Lange-heights in sugary goodness, but they are close.

The production on the record is balanced and steel-strong, 1980s stadium-sized banging. Had this album been released, say, three years before the actual release date of 1990, Wicked Sensation would have been hugely successful. Sadly, over-saturation on the market combined with the near explosion of the flanel-n-greasehair -posse didn't give it the chance it deserved. Every wannabe guitar-freak with a taste for burning fretboards with good sense of melody added: this album is a must have. Any fan of heavy rock of the 80s should also check this one out, although finding it will likely be a bit more challenging than going to the nearest Tower Records. I don’t think this bad boy has been in print for a while. A shame, because if we use Dokken as a reference for example, this album trumps any of the great studio albums they made in the mid-80s. Ok, maybe not Tooth & Nail, but otherwise.