Law & Order - Rites of Passage (1991)

Country: U.S.A.

Genre: Hard Rock

Label Number: MCAD-10294

.FLAC via Florenfile

.AAC 256 kbps via Florenfile

© 1991 MCA Records

Rites of Passage Review by Alex Henderson

In the late '80s and early '90s, MCA Records hoped to milk pop-metal's popularity for all it was worth -- and that meant signing as many hair bands as possible. You could write a book about all of the Poison and Warrant clones that MCA signed back when Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten had yet to make MTV lose interest in hair bands. Because MCA jumped on the pop-metal bandwagon in such an obvious way, some people might have taken one look at the long-haired members of Law and Order and assumed that they were just another bunch of generic, faceless Bon Jovi imitators. But that wasn't the case at all; the hard rock, heavy metal, and arena rock that Law and Order plays on Rites of Passage (its second MCA album) has integrity, and the band wasn't into emulating Bon Jovi, Poison, Winger, or Warrant. Boasting Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickenson as one of its executive producers, Rites of Passage combines an appreciation of Queensryche with 1970s influences that include Led Zeppelin and Rush. The writing is fairly intricate, and the lyrics are intelligent -- racism, war, materialism, and drugs are among the topics that Law and Order tackles on this 1991 CD. Although Rites of Passage isn't perfect -- some of the songs are more successful than others -- the rockers deserve credit for being substantial and ambitious. However, Law and Order received very little attention, which is regrettable because the obscure rockers had potential.

 tags: law and order, rites of passage, 1991, flac,