Rocktrospectiva: The Notable "Cherry Pie" Turns 35

Released on 11 September 1990 "Cherry Pie" was the second studio album by US glam metal band Warrant. The album was the band's highest-selling release, peaking at #7 on the Billboard 200. Spawning the Top 40 hits "Cherry Pie" and "I Saw Red", as well as "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and "Blind Faith". Cherry Pie was a notable release in the glam metal genre, selling over two million copies in the United States.

 

The band  worked once again with producer Beau Hill -- who helped define the L.A. hair metal sound but this time the group opted for a bigger, bolder, more diverse production Cherry Pie. Back then, it seemed the band tried to get a little more serious, not in hopes of gaining critical respect but to prove that there's a little bit more to them than the success-n-sex-obsessed party boys of their debut. 

 

Nevertheless, this was a record that explicitly explained the euphemism of its title track through its album cover. But there was a concentrated effort to stretch a little bit, whether it's covering Blackfoot's bluesy "Train, Train" or the attempt at spooky storytelling on "Uncle Tom's Cabin" or even the elaborate arrangement on "I Saw Red,". 

 

Throughout the album there are hints that the band tried to do more musically, more room given to guitar solos, along with flashing acoustic picking, bassist Jerry Dixon popped his strings to get himself noticed, there are more keyboards, and vocalist Jani Lane spent more time on his words, which are printed in the booklet, unlike last time. This made of Cherry Pie less fun even if it's overall more accomplished and diverse.

 

There was also the goofy title track "Cherry Pie," the effective "Uncle Tom's Cabin," or the ridiculous ode to threesomes, "Love in Stereo" that made of this record worthwhile for those who loved Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich, even if it doesn't hold up as well as that record.

989 debut album, Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich, lived up to its title by raking in gobs of cash for the band's label with a precision-tooled mix of radio-friendly rockers and ballads. When it came time to record the follow-up, the group wanted to spread its wings a little — but at first, the record company didn't hear a single.

That feedback came so late in the recording process that the band members actually thought the album was wrapped. Intending to call it Uncle Tom's Cabin, after a song they'd pegged as the lead single, they'd started scattering for some pre-release time off when singer and chief songwriter Jani Lane was asked to go back to the well.

Read More: How Warrant Became Victims of Their Own Success With 'Cherry Pie' | https://ultimateclassicrock.com/warrant-cherry-pie-backlash/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral

 

 The album carried a parental advisory sticker in the United States, due to the final track, "Ode to Tipper Gore", which consisted of a collection of swear words cut from the band's live performances. A "clean" version of the album also existed, with the final track removed, and an audible "bleep" of a curse in a previous song, "Train, Train", which featured the line "All a-fucking-board" at the beginning of the uncensored version. A funny thing was that the Canadian cable-TV music network MuchMusic refused to air the "Cherry Pie" video on the grounds that it was "offensively sexist".

 

Cherry Pie Track List: 

 

1. Cherry Pie

2. Uncle Tom's Cabin  

3. I Saw Red

4. Bed Of Roses

5. Sure Feels Good To Me

6. Love In Stereo

7. Blind Faith

8. Song And Dance Man

9. You're The Only Hell Your Mama Ever Raised

10. Mr. Rainmaker

11. Train Train

12. Ode To Tipper Gore