Native Tongue | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | February 8, 1993 [1] | |||
Recorded | 1992 | |||
Studio | ||||
Genre | ||||
Length | 56:20 | |||
Label | Capitol | |||
Producer | Richie Zito | |||
Poison chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Native Tongue | ||||
|
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Entertainment Weekly | C+ [5] |
Q | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Native Tongue is the fourth studio album by American glam metal band Poison, released in 1993 through Capitol Records. It peaked at #16 on the Billboard 200, [8] #20 on the UK Albums Chart [9] and was certified gold by the RIAA on April 21, 1993. [1] It has also been certified platinum in Canada. This is the only album to feature lead guitarist Richie Kotzen. Kotzen was hired as the band's guitarist following the firing of C.C. DeVille in late 1991. The album features the singles "Stand", "Until You Suffer Some (Fire And Ice)" and "Body Talk".
Admitted as a full-fledged member of the band rather than a "hired gun", Kotzen was given considerable creative freedom. Resultingly, Kotzen's writing and performing contributions dominated the album.
Kotzen would later be expelled from the band following the world tour, after it was discovered that he had been romantically involved with the fiancee of drummer Rikki Rockett. Recollections of the album, while no doubt soured by these events, nonetheless appear to faithfully reflect the basic clash between Kotzen's style and that of the band's founding members. Kotzen would later claim that "being in Poison helped me forget I was a musician" [10] while Rockett would lament the loss of the band's original "attitude" [11]
The album was recorded and mixed at A&M Studios in Hollywood, California, and Rumbo Recorders in Canoga Park, California with producer Richie Zito. It was dedicated to Van Halen tour manager Scotty Ross and former Poison guitarist DeVille. The album peaked at #16 on the Billboard chart.
The first two singles "Stand" and "Until You Suffer Some (Fire And Ice)" featured music videos and charted in the US and the UK. "Stand" reached number 15 on the Mainstream rock chart, #35 on the Top 40 Mainstream chart and #50 on the Billboard Hot 100. [12] The song also charted at number 25 on the UK Singles chart and "Until You Suffer Some (Fire And Ice)" peaked at number 32 on the UK Singles chart. [13]
Following the album the band released a video/DVD titled Seven Days Live which featured a concert from the Native Tongue world tour.
Lyrically, the band continued on the growing sophistication that began in Flesh & Blood . The album's themes include battles against injustice ("Scream", "Stand"), heartbreak ("Until You Suffer Some", "7 Days Over You", "Theatre of the Soul"), and inner demons ("Stay Alive").
"When the Whip Comes Down" is a track not included on the album but used as a B-side for the singles.
All tracks are written by Bret Michaels, Bobby Dall, Rikki Rockett, and Richie Kotzen
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Native Tongue" | 1:03 |
2. | "The Scream" | 3:51 |
3. | "Stand" | 5:17 |
4. | "Stay Alive" | 4:25 |
5. | "Until You Suffer Some (Fire and Ice)" | 4:16 |
6. | "Body Talk" | 4:03 |
7. | "Bring It Home" | 3:57 |
8. | "7 Days over You" | 4:15 |
9. | "Richie's Acoustic Thang" | 0:58 |
10. | "Ain't That the Truth" | 3:27 |
11. | "Theatre of the Soul" | 4:43 |
12. | "Strike Up the Band" | 4:17 |
13. | "Ride Child Ride" | 3:55 |
14. | "Blind Faith" | 3:34 |
15. | "Bastard Son of a Thousand Blues" | 4:57 |
Total length: | 56:20 |
Band members
Additional musicians
Chart (1993) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA) [15] | 60 |
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [16] | 39 |
Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [17] | 26 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [18] | 54 |
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) [19] | 17 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [20] | 60 |
Japanese Albums (Oricon) [21] | 39 |
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [22] | 39 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [23] | 39 |
UK Albums (OCC) [24] | 20 |
US Billboard 200 [25] | 16 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Canada (Music Canada) [26] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [1] | Gold | 500,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Poison is an American glam metal band formed in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania in 1983. The most successful incarnation of the band consists of lead singer and rhythm guitarist Bret Michaels, drummer Rikki Rockett, bassist Bobby Dall and lead guitarist C.C. DeVille. The band achieved huge commercial success in the mid-1980s through the mid-1990s and sold over 50 million records and DVDs worldwide.
Open Up and Say... Ahh! is the second studio album by American glam metal band Poison, released on April 27, 1988, through Enigma Records and Capitol Records. It proved to be the band's most successful release, and spawned four hit singles: "Nothin' But a Good Time", "Fallen Angel", "Your Mama Don't Dance" and their only number one single to date, "Every Rose Has Its Thorn". The album peaked at number two on the US Billboard 200.
Richard Allan Ream, better known by the stage name Rikki Rockett, is an American drummer for rock band Poison. The band has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide and 15 million records in the United States alone.
Flesh & Blood is the third studio album by American glam metal band Poison, released on July 2, 1990, through Enigma Records and Capitol Records. It peaked at number 2 on the Billboard charts and more than 7.2 million copies were sold worldwide. It peaked at number 1 on the Cash Box charts.
Swallow This Live is the first live album by American glam metal band Poison. It was released in 1991 by Capitol Records. The album features 16 live tracks from Poison's first three studio albums: Look What the Cat Dragged In, Open Up and Say...Ahh!, and Flesh & Blood. These live tracks were recorded in Miami, Orlando, and Tampa in Florida, as well as the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre in California during Poison’s Flesh & Blood world tour. The album also contains four new studio tracks, which were the last recorded before guitarist C.C. DeVille departed from Poison later in 1991. One of these, "So Tell Me Why", was released as a single and reached number 25 in the United Kingdom in November 1991.
Crack a Smile... and More! is the fifth studio album from the American hard rock band Poison. The record was released on March 14, 2000. The album features guitarist Blues Saraceno, who was hired as the band's new lead guitarist following the firing of Richie Kotzen in late 1993. Saraceno appeared on the band's last album release Poison's Greatest Hits: 1986–1996 in 1996, which featured two new tracks with him on lead guitar. Those two new tracks re-appear on this album along with thirteen new songs and five bonus tracks. The album moved around 12,000 copies in its first week of release to debut at #131 on the Billboard 200 album chart.
Undiscovered Soul is the second solo studio album from Richie Sambora the guitarist from New Jersey band Bon Jovi. The album was released on February 23, 1998, and is more experimental than his earlier release Stranger in This Town. The album was produced by Don Was.
The Best of Poison: 20 Years of Rock is a compilation album from the American glam metal band Poison, released by Capitol Records on April 3, 2006, to celebrate the band's 20th anniversary. It sold more than one million copies to date in the U.S as of September 2009.
Poison's Greatest Hits: 1986–1996 is the first greatest hits compilation CD by the glam metal band Poison, released on November 26, 1996, by Capitol Records to celebrate the band's 10th anniversary. The album contains 16 tracks from the band's first four studio albums and also the live double-album Swallow This Live.
Best of Ballads & Blues is a compilation album by the American glam metal band Poison, released by Capitol Records on August 5, 2003. Unlike Poison's Greatest Hits: 1986-1996, this compilation focuses on the group's power ballads and blues-oriented songs, and also includes acoustic recordings of "Something to Believe In" and "Stand".
Rock Champions is a compilation album by American rock band Poison, released in Europe in 2001 by EMI Plus. The album consists of 14 studio tracks from the band's previous albums, from Look What the Cat Dragged In to Native Tongue.
Great Big Hits Live! Bootleg is an album by American glam metal band Poison, released by Sony BMG on July 4, 2006. The album consists of 10 live tracks from Poison's successful 1999-2000 Comeback tour. All the songs but three are Poison singles that charted on The Billboard Hot 100 including the number 1 hit "Every Rose Has Its Thorn".
Poison'd! is the seventh studio album by American glam metal band Poison, released through Capitol Records on June 5, 2007. The 14-track album features cover versions of the band's favorite rock classics. Nine new tracks and five previously released covers make up the album.
Seven Days Live is the fourth video album from the American heavy metal/glam metal Poison, featuring a live concert at the Hammersmith Odeon, in London, England, from the Native Tongue world tour in 1993, in support of the fourth Poison studio album Native Tongue, which was certified Gold by the RIAA on April 21, 1993.
Poison Greatest Video Hits is the fifth DVD/video from the rock band Poison, released in 2001 following the success of the VH1 Behind the Music episode of the band.
Nothing but a Good Time! Unauthorized is a documentary film centered around U.S. hard rock/glam metal band Poison that was released in 2003 following the distribution of the band's studio album Hollyweird. Taking its title from the 1988 Poison single "Nothin' But a Good Time", it features interviews with related musicians such as Bret Michaels and C.C. DeVille
"I Won't Forget You" is a power ballad by the American glam metal band Poison, originally from the album Look What the Cat Dragged In.
"Stand" is a song by American band Poison, written by Richie Kotzen prior to joining the band. It was the first single from their fourth album, Native Tongue (1993), released in January 1993 by Capitol. The song reached number 15 on the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart, number 35 on the Billboard Top 40 Mainstream chart, and number 50 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song also charted at number 25 on the UK Singles Chart and number 15 in Canada.
"Shooting Star" is a song by American rock band Poison. It is the third and final single released from Poison's 7th studio album Hollyweird, which debuted at #103 on the Billboard 200 and #8 on the Independent Albums chart. The song was released as a single in November 2002.
Double Dose: Ultimate Hits is a double-disc compilation album by the glam metal band Poison, released by Capitol Records on May 3, 2011, to commemorate the band's 25th anniversary. The album charted at No. 23 on the Billboard Top Hard Rock Albums chart and No. 17 in Canada.
The band tried to steer into blues-rock, to limited success, on their 1993 album Native Tongue