Ghosts From The Past?

When I stumbled across this on Sleaze Roxx, I was sorta’ confused. I mean, I was late to the Warrant game. As many of you know, I looked down on them in my youth. Like Winger, I treated them as copycats, clones, and cloying imitations of the Sunset Strip type of metal stuff I loved. Back in the day, I unfairly claimed, without any justification, that they were responsible for metal dying off.

Boy oh boy, was I wrong.

Again, like Winger, Warrant had some great stuff that it took me years to fully appreciate. In both cases, there were talented musicians creating solid music. Similarly, I think a lot of that was due to the leaders, Kip Winger and Jani Lane. As we know, Winger is still with us and creating music that spans genres. Sadly, Lane isn’t. His demons caught up with him. And, while Warrant continues, there is something missing. And that is no slam on the members who choose to continue or on the prowess of Robert Mason.

But these four songs are an interesting thought experiment. For one, this is the work of a producer Chris Laney (of Pretty Maids) who, with the blessing of Lane’s child, went through the detritus and found some gold. Re-imagined and set to music, you hear Lane again. Personally, I found the songs haunting. And I also found them sad (especially “Unrealistic.”) And I still don’t know how I feel about this project.

I was a dumb kid who chose to dismiss Lane’s talents. As a result, I never got to see Warrant back in the day (though I have seen them with Mason). The tragedy of his passing only adds to my regret. Why? Not because it would have changed anything. But because I never got to spend time seeing him live. And these songs are an indication of what I missed and what a lot of people still miss. Lane was a true talent who should still be here, demanding our attention while we wish him well.

In these recordings, it almost feels like that is still true. Almost.