Home > St. Louis Music > CD Review > Bret Michaels, 'Rock My World'

Backstory: Formerly best known as the lead singer of Poison—one of the biggest and arguably most entertaining hair-metal bands of the late '80s—Michaels has reemerged as a reality star, serving as a judge on “Nashville Star” and the object of affection for countless women of varying degrees of class on “Rock of Love” and “Rock of Love 2.”
 
Why you should care: At the very least, Michaels, now in his mid-40s, has the stamina to stick around. And though more than half of the songs on “Rock My World” have been released on previous solo albums, the popularity of “Rock of Love” proves the public's enduring interest in the charmingly clueless singer—whether as a musician or just as the guy who evaluates women based on their comfort level with a stripper pole.
 
Verdict: If you've seen “Rock of Love,” you know Michaels hasn’t grown up much, and “Rock My World” does zilch to progress from the work he was doing two decades ago. The record is a nonstop parade of clichés, like this line from “Fallen”: “When I see you across the room, time stands still/Every time I undress you, my heart starts to fall.” Of course, Michaels was never the world's best lyricist, but his attempts to rock out on songs about love and sex, highways and motorcycles fall flat, especially when he's singing about a girl who “sucked in the sack” (“Bittersweet”). Only “Songs of Life” qualifies as less than cringe-worthy.
 
X-Factor: A press release about Michaels includes this nugget of info, which should tell you what kind of audience he’s aiming for: “In the new millennium Poison's music has been featured in such big screen flicks as ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith,’ ‘Grandma's Boy’ and ‘Deuce Bigelow: European Gigolo.’”

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