Poison "Stand"

[busyboy]

So, yeah, after three multi-platinum albums, Poison, like every other successful hair-metal band, were in need of a change of sound to enter the new, grungy decade.

Original guitarist CC Deville was no longer a part of the band. They recruited Richie Kotzen, a guitar virtuoso (!) that infused the band's sound with blues, something a bit different from their usual style.

"Stand" was the first single from the Native Tongue album in 1993. It featured acoustic guitar and most notably, a gospel choir doing the backing vocals in the chorus. It was awesome, and I fell in love with it right away.

Too bad the rest of the world didn't have the same opinion as mine. It peaked at #50 on the Hot 100, breaking their string of nine Top 40 hits. They'd never chart another single on that chart again. It went Top 20 on Pop, but that didn't help matters much: the album only went gold. The strategy for relevance in the age of alternative rock had failed rather miserably.

In the UK it did a bit better, peaking at #25 on the singles chart. Not surprising, since it was in heavy rotation on MTV Europe.

So, here's the video. And remember:

[corniness]Stand for what you believe![/corniness]

youtube.com/watch?v=bUkWrOZy_VM

[tico]

Not too bad.

[jazklash]

A Bon Jovi comparison always comes in handy in cases like this. Looking back, one can more and more clearly see why they survived where others fell. Because even at their hairspray heyday, they always did have that Bruce Springsteen-like everyman aspect which set them apart from the whole pack. And in a way, I think Poison did try to come up with the same shtick here. Thing is, when they did, it was not only too late, a lot of people probably thought that the sudden transformation from party-hearty pretty boys to serious-minded arena rockers was just too much, and an obviously calculated, and desperate, ploy to stay relevant in the face of grunge's dominance.

As an aside, Ritchie only lasted through Native Tongue. Why? Let's just say he was found knocking on Rikki Rocket's wife doorbell!