Gorky Park

Despite being quite similar to most of the hair metal releases of the late '80s, Gorky Park's debut album is a solid freshman outing. The lead track "Bang" with its mix of Russian and English lyrics gave the band its first hit. The album also contains a collaboration with Bon Jovi, "Peace I Our Time," a ballad about the end of the cold war. The strangest tune is a cover of the Who's "My Generation" that when sung in the hair metal style appears to be a bit of a hack cover, until the band breaks into a Russian chorus giving the song a decent yet somewhat weird update. Despite the presence of some run-of-the-mill hair metal filler, this album holds up rather well. But with changing musical tastes in the early '90s this was to be band's only popular U.S. release. — Curtis Zimmermann