771. Various Artists / Shocker - The Music. 1989. 4/5

Movie soundtracks can be amazingly hit and miss, and this is often more the case for fans of heavy metal and hard rock. For a start it is often hard to find movies that utilise ’that kind of music’, and then it is difficult to find movies where the music is something that you want to listen to after the event. However, in the late 1980's and early 1990's there was stream of movies that, as a young male is his teenage years and early 20's, were so bad they were good, and also had good artists doing the music, which in turn encouraged you to go out and buy the soundtrack, as well as the film on VHS.
“Shocker” was one of those movies and soundtracks. The concept and story of the film is fairly typical of the B-grade horror films that were coming out around this era. Released in 1989, the story centres on serial killer Horace Pinker, played by future X-Files alumni Mitch Pileggi who would play Assistant Director Walter Skinner. In this film, Pinker has killed over thirty people, including most of the foster family and the girlfriend of the main protagonist Johnathan Parker, who we eventually learn in Pinker’s biological son. Parker has formed a psychic connection with Pinker, and he is able to help his police detective father in capturing Pinker who is sentenced to death. Pinker has however made a deal with the devil, which allows to him be converted to pure energy on his execution, and thus be able to possess other people to escape where he is and also continue his murder spree. And now not only do the good guys have to work out that Pinker can do this, but how to stop him.
Back in the day I saw this at the cinemas when it was released, travelling to Sydney with my usual circle of friends to laugh and make inappropriate comments through the film, and enjoying the songs that were a part of the movie. The main one that had been released as a single prior to the movie's opening was the cover of Alice Cooper’s “No More Mr Nice Guy” performed by Megadeth, which was one of the reasons we decided to go forth and watch it. And then when the movie was released on VHS, I hired it and made my own copy for further viewings over the years. And I won’t lie to you, I loved it. It was so corny, so laughable, that it was fun.
Watch the movie now, and you would wonder what we saw in it. Even as a cult film now, whenever I watch it now (yep, I still do) I have to cringe through some parts of it.
Of course, the soundtrack came out at the same time, and I did eventually get around to buying it, although it was a couple of years later, most probably when I had copied the movie to watch again. And if you want 80's hard rock, which is heavily influenced by one Desmond Child, who was the hit-maker at the time, helping to make Bon Jovi stars, and revitalising Alice Cooper, Aerosmith and Kiss for the 'modern' age, then you get that in spades here.

The album opens with the song that comes over the credits and is the movie’s title track, “Shocker”. It is performed by the 'superstar band' who came together for this project called The Dudes of Wrath, comprising Paul Stanley and Desmond Child on duelling vocals, Vivian Campbell and Guy Mann-Dude on guitars, Rudy Sarzo on bass guitar, and Tommy Lee on drums, with backing vocals by Michael Anthony and Kane Roberts. "Shocker" is the high energy anthemic theme to proclaim the heroes at the end of the film once they have vanquished the villain. I love this song despite its cheesiness, you can barely stop yourself from singing along in the car. And it is truly stuck in that era and drips with Desmond Child’s influence. This is followed by Iggy Pop (with some help from Alice Cooper) singing "Love Transfusion", another with obvious influence from Desmond Child and co-written by him and Alice. It has the same melodies and chorus lines as the opening track in some ways, and fits in nicely as a result. I’ve always enjoyed this song, and Iggy isn’t quite as hectic as he often is. Terrific. Tagging along after this is Megadeth's cover of Alice Cooper's "No More Mr. Nice Guy", a great rocking version of the song. This was such a great version of the original, it actually inspired the band I was in at the time with my mates to play it live. And the first time we did our vocalist had run out of puff so I did double duty on drums and vocals. Anyway. Mustaine does a great job in this song. I actually bought the cassingle to this when it was released, which also had two songs on the B-side that I eventually found were also on this soundtrack album. That cassingle got a hammering in the car at the time.
"Sword and Stone" is the next song performed by the band Bonfire, and as soon as you hear it you will believe you are listening to a Kiss song. And you wouldn’t be wrong, as the track is actually written by Stanley and Child, along with Bruce Kulick who was Kiss’s guitarist at the time and was demoed for their “Crazy Nights” album. Instead, it was offered to Bonfire who recorded it for their own album “Point Blank” and also for this compilation. It’s a fun song. Eventually though we had to come to the power ballad, the song utilised in the movie to signify lost love through the murderous rampage of a serial killer. And that song is “Timeless Love”, the Desmond Child penned abomination performed by Saraya. Child uses all of the power ballad tricks in this song to draw out the emotion he is looking for. For me however, that emotion is severe nausea. It’s a tragic song, but not in the way the writer and performer were looking for.
The Dudes of Wrath return to clean up the mess with "Shockdance", co-written by Child, Guy Mann Dude, Vivian Campbell and Kane Roberts, and this time featuring Alice Cooper on vocals, rapping along with Horace Pinker himself, Mitch Pileggi. It is so 80’s that it is somewhat painful, but in the long run it is fun, and Alice Cooper is always great to listen to. His back and forth with Pileggi’s character is overcomes and perceived weaknesses. This is followed by "Demon Bell (The Ballad of Horace Pinker)" which is performed by Dangerous Toys with some writing input from Child. This is also a beauty, and was one of the B-side tracks on the “No More Mr Nice Guy” single. It has a great upvibe tempo and fits in with the mood of the album nicely. "The Awakening" by Voodoo X starts a little slowly but builds to a satisfying conclusion. They released this song on their only album “Vol 1: The Awakening”, and the song is actually quite good, channelling several bands of the era in the hard rock scene. It’s interesting that they didn’t amount to more. One song that really caught my attention initially was "Different Breed" by Dead On, perhaps because it was the other B side track to the "No More Mr. Nice Guy" single I bought before I bought this soundtrack. I don't know what happened to them, but they sound like an early version of Scatterbrain, who I loved when they arrived around this time. I've always loved this song, and was disappointed I could never find any more of their music. The album then concludes with a reprise of "Shocker", fading out leaving you feeling like the hero.
THE awakening

I’ve pretty much covered my history with both this film and its soundtrack. The producers of the film were cluey in having Desmond Child oversee the songs for the soundtrack and how they fit into the film, because he has done a great job here, not only with the composition of his supergroup and their input, but the other bands and musicians attached. Because I really believe there is only one weak song on this album, the afore mentioned atrocity that is “Timeless Love”. Everything else here is very enjoyable, even if you have to imagine you are back in 1989 to get the most from it. Because there is little doubt most of the songs here have dated, which is what made them so good at the time because that was what the era of music was throwing at us.
On many soundtrack albums, there will be bands that no one knows, who have songs that are mildly forgettable. I don’t think that is the case here. Bonfire, Dangerous Toys, Voodoo X and Dead On all give us some above average songs to enjoy after the big hitters have lit up the front end of the album. And while the hard rock anthems provided here by Desmond Child and his collaborators might still be very cheesy today, as a reminder of that time, they are excellent value.
That said, there would be a narrow field of people who will love this album and/or the film, and I don't pretend it to be otherwise. Kids watching to and listening to this today would for the most part likely be horrified not at the violence on the screen but the style of music the soundtrack contains. Having seen the film on the big screen all those years ago, and having owned a VHS copy since it was released (now sadly gone through the deterioration of the tape), and having both the Megadeth single and the album soundtrack more or less since their release, my opinion is certainly be biased towards the positive for nostalgic reasons as well as perceived quality.
I have listened to this soundtrack album a dozen times over the past couple of weeks, and I haven’t gotten tired of it yet. It is one of the best soundtrack albums I own, and I have more than gotten my money’s worth for it. Some of you out there, of course, may well believe that that is a Shocker!