By Stephen Kasenda
LITA FORD “Dangerous Curves” (1991)
After the somewhat blunt release of "Stiletto", I didn't expect Lita Ford to make a great return to form considering the musical climate had begin changing, but "Dangerous Curves" proved me wrong. Deliberately injected with a big amount of commercial fluid, Ford's style was stripped down to a more AOR feel rather than the typical hard rock outfit, but with around 8 enjoyable songs out of 11 presented, I guess the formula worked fine.
"Larger Than Life" begins the journey with an anthemic chorus - this track is probably the sleaziest tune and definitely an adrenaline pumper. Too bad she threw "What Do Ya Know Bout Love", which I think is far too decent compared to the next big hit, "Shot of Poison". This is one of her best songs as far as I remember and, together with "Playin' With Fire", they made a wonderful radio-friendly chart-conquering combo. "Black Widow" is also great, "Little Too Early" is good midtempo AOR, and "Holy Man" is like a lost Bon Jovi track.
While the album still suffered with some flat and dull tracks such as "Bad Love", "Tambourine Dream", or "Little Black Spider", I think this one is beautiful, especially if you can accept the commercial-fueled hard rock common in the late 80s/early 90s. Fantastic stuff!
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