QUIREBOYS: Bitter Sweet & Twisted CD. fucking great band! Check videos

Bitter Sweet & Twisted = Studio album by The Quireboys
Released: 1993
Genre: Rock
Hard: rock
Label: EMI
Producer: Bob Rock + Chris Kimsey

Bitter Sweet & Twisted is rock band The Quireboys's second studio album, released in 1993. The album was released on EMI and went into the UK Albums Chart at #31.
Three of the tracks from this album ("Tramps & Thieves", "Brother Louie" and "Last Time") were released as singles, the latter of which was only released in Japan. "Brother Louie" was the highest charting from this album, as it reached #32 on the UK Singles Chart.
The album was produced mostly by Bob Rock, some of the tracks were produced by The Rolling Stones producer Chris Kimsey. After this album, The Quireboys would split up and didn't release another studio album until 2001.

Singles:
Tramps and Thieves (1992) UK #41
Brother Louie (1992) UK #32
Last Time (1992)

Quireboys* – Bitter Sweet & Twisted
Label: parlophone – 0777 7 98797 2 4
Format: CD, Album
Country: UK & Europe
Released: 1993
Genre: Rock
Style: Hard Rock
▼
1 Tramps And Thieves
Remix – Chris Kimsey
Written-By – Bailey*, Gray*
2 White Trash Blues
Remix – Chris Kimsey
Written-By – Johnstone*, Bailey*, Griffin*, Gray*
3 Can't Park Here
Mixed By – John Brough
Written-By – Bailey*, Gray*
4 King Of New York
Remix – Chris Kimsey
Written-By – Bailey*, Vallance*, Gray*
5 Don't Bite The Hand
Written-By – Bailey*, Griffin*, Gray*
Mixed By – Chris Kimsey
Producer – Chris Kimsey
Engineer – Mark Wallace (2)
6 Last Time
Mixed By – John Brough
Written-By – Bailey*, Gray*
7 Debbie
Mixed By – Brian Dobbs
Written-By – Bailey*, Gray*
8 Brother Louie
Written-By – Brown*, Wilson*
Mixed By – Chris Kimsey
Producer – Chris Kimsey
Engineer – Mark Wallace (2)
9 Ode To You (Baby Just Walk)
Remix – Chris Kimsey
Written-By – Bailey*, Gray*
10 Hates To Please
Written-By – Bailey*, Gray*
11 My Saint Jude
Remix – Chris Kimsey
Written-By – Bailey*, Gray*
12 Take No Revenge
Mixed By – John Brough
Written-By – Johnstone*, Bailey*, Gray*
13 Wild, Wild, Wild
Remix – Chris Kimsey
Written-By – Bailey*, Gray*
14 Ain't Love Blind
Written-By – Rock*, Bailey*, Gray*

Credits▼
Arranged By [Strings] – Bob Buckley
Bass, Vocals – Nigel Mogg
Drums, Percussion – Rudy Richman
Engineer – Randy Staub
Grand Piano, Organ [Hammond B3], Clavinet, Electric Piano [Wurlitzer] – Chris Johnstone
Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin, Vocals – Guy Bailey
Lead Guitar, Slide Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Sitar, Vocals – Guy Griffin
Producer – Bob Rock
Vocals, Blues Harp, Acoustic Guitar – Spike*

Notes▼
Printed in UK / Made in UK.
Barcode and Other Identifiers▼
Barcode: 0 7777 98797 2 4
Other (Distribution Code): D:
Other (Distribution Code): F: PM 520
Other (Distribution Code): UK: CDPCSD 120
Other (Rights Societies): BIEM/MCPS
Other (Label Code): LC 0299

5.0 out of 5 stars English Rockers...No Sophomore Slump,
The Quireboys are one of those bands that just sort of stick with you throughout your life. There is nothing fancy or special about their sound. They just happen to be one of the best British imports to cross the pond in decades...no kidding. Their debut album "A Bit Of What You Fancy" is great. It is almost great to a fault. It was very polished sounding and lacked the spontanaety that this band displays when they play live. "Bitter Sweet & Twisted" shows the Quireboys strength as a loose Stonesey influenced rock band. And it shows their muscle as they shine on some of the prettiest ballads you'll hear anywhere. This album kicks off with Tramps And Thieves, a song that shows what I described above. They really are a strong act in songs like this. Other songs that kick with similar force are My Saint Jude, Don't Bite The Hand, and Ain't Love Blind. They really do show their Stones influence in each of these songs. The guitar fills, basic rock and roll beat, and swagger of lead singer Spike really take you back a few years. Other great upbeat cuts on this one include Can't Park Here, White Trash Blues, Debbie, and their flawless cover of Brother Louie. Louie in particular stands out. They don't try to show off or try to make the song better than the original. Rather they make the song their own and it truly sounds like it could have been theirs. On the other hand, you have some wonderful ballads here. Last Time is a beautiful ballad with a nice string arrangement. The words and music go well together. Another strong ballad is Hates To Please. If you only heard the music here, you'd swear you were hearing some early Eagles music complete with some good ol' pedal steel in the background. And last but not least, you've got King Of New York. It is such a crime that this song has never made it into a mafia movie at some point. It is romantic and has that cinematic flair. It is of course during these ballads that obvious comparisons are made between lead vocalist Spike and Rod Stewart. Stewart's musical influence is less prevalant on this album than their first, but is never more present than in Hates To Please. Other cuts included here that are enjoyable are the bluesy Ode To You (Baby Just Walk), and the excellent stand out song Take No Revenge. Revenge showcases some very exceptional piano playing by the band's keyboardist Chris Johnstone. The only complaint I have of this album is the song Wild,Wild,Wild. I thought this song was decent musically, but the lyrics seem pointless to me. But thirteen out of fourteen is one hell of a lot better than most bands could do. If you enjoy 70's style rock and roll, you'll love this album. It reminds you of the days when bands wrote and recorded albums to showcase as a whole rather than a song here and there for radio as seems to be the trend and has been for far too long. The Quireboys are not the Stones. Nor are they Rod Stewart or the Faces. They are however one hell of a rock and roll band that doesn't leave you disappointed. Give this one a spin and turn your friends on to it.

5.0 out of 5 stars No record company trying to get them to be the 90's Faces,
First of all, this release of this recording is missing at least one song - 'Brother Louie'- which is one of the best versions of "Louie Lou(eye)" I have ever heard and is included on the double cd containing the boys first two recordings.
Their first recording, "Bit of what you fancy", - probably due to record company pressure/influence- tried too hard to sound like the Faces with Rod Stewart.

It did not result in big buck record sales like record companies were getting when they got other bands to behave like Led Zepplin, Motley Crue and Guns and Roses sound a likes.

This resulted in the record company not sticking their nose in this recording.

Due to this, "Bitter sweet and twisted" is a far superior recording in terms of originality because the band is using the Faces as an inspiration without being forced to copy them and it shows in the superior vibrancy and enjoyment of the band making a recording they probably wanted to make with the first cd.

Think of this recording as in a league with the top recordings of the Stones, Humble Pie, Dr. Feelgood, the Faces and other R&B influenced british bands in the 60'/70s using 90's recording advances in production and engineering.

Unfortunately the first recording/videos gave them the image of a Faces copy band and also there were too many people that did not look beyond the Rod Stewart sound alike vocals, resulting in this gem of a recording being ignored and the band breaking up shortly afterwards.