by Jeremy Ulrey
Despite the title, the boys seemed to have cooled off substantially since their scorching debut. Dizzy Dean's attempts at singing straight on the majority of these tunes rob the band of its raw edge, and the ultra-clean acoustic guitars backing many of the midtempo tracks are too clearly derived from Poison's &Every Rose Has Its Thorn.& Unfortunately, the band tames its strip club mentality for a more mature outlook on relationships, only to find they have nothing to say on the subject. The saving grace of Boys in Heat is the first side, which fires on all cylinders and rarely misses. It's the second half that threatens to sink the ship, with very few of the throwaway tunes holding any water whatsoever. Not a total wash-up, but indicative of the lack of quality control which would soon tank the genre.