1990's Flesh & Blood is probably my favorite Poison album. It wasn't quite as big a hit as

or

, but I felt that this is where the band started to grow as artists and get a bit more creative.

Aside from the single "Unskinny Bop", which is every bit the typical Poison song, the band took a slightly more bluesy approach on Flesh & Blood, though not quite to the same level that Cinderella did on

. Tracks like Let It Play and Poor Boy Blues are good examples of this new direction. The straightforward rock songs - Valley of Lost Souls, Ride the Wind, and the title track to name a few - are more enjoyable on Flesh & Blood as well, and don't fall as easily into the "style over substance" approach that Poison perfected on earlier albums. And the ballad from this album - Something to Believe In - is, in my humble opinion, worlds better than the mega-hit Every Rose Has Its Thorn. This is not some weepy ode to an estranged lover; Something to Believe In tackles some very tough subjects in a very emotional manner, and is easily the album's standout track.

It may be light on party anthems, but Flesh & Blood features some excellent hard rock songs, and may just be Poison's finest hour.

The 2006 reissue of Flesh & Blood features digitally remastered sound - which the album sorely needed - as well as two bonus tracks. The instrumental demo God Save the Queen is interesting, but doesn't add much. The acoustic version of Something to Believe In (originally available as the B-side to the Life Goes On cassette single) is a real treat though. Not only is it a stripped down version of the song, but it features totally different lyrics. There's plenty here to make it worth replacing your old version of Flesh & Blood.

Such an underrated album, when people talk about poison they never mention this album. This album is great from start to finish. I have over 600+ cd's and this is my favorite. Even the songs that weren't released as singles are good enough for radio airplay.... "valley of lost souls", "let it play", "hell or high water", "poor boy blues" etc. SUPERB production. For anyone that just owns poison's greatest hits or the best of poison, and is looking to check out another poison album, definitely give this one a shot! Poison at their best

I first bought this album on tape, and loved it back then...I recently purchased it on CD, and its still as good if not better. This is my favorite Poison album!! Its not as Glam rock as the other two albums. If you love this kind of music like I do, buy this album...you wont regret it. I listen to it all the time!!!!

In a time when big hair bands ruled the world of rock, these guys made an unforgettable mark, in the genre !

After critics used journalist shield laws as an excuse to trash Poison's first two albums, the band decided to try to solve the problem- not by trying to get the shield laws repealed, but by listening to rootsy artists such as the Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Marshall Tucker Band, and the Outlaws, learning from their albums, and applying those lessons to their own hard rock sound and style. They began writing songs that dealt largely with life's ups and downs, the sacrifices needed to make a relationship work, and other "serious" issues, and the result was FLESH AND BLOOD, their best album ever. True, an old friend recently gave me advice to take teasing like the humor on the album's big hit single, "Unskinny Bop", yet as good as her intentions were, it's not typical of the rest of this CD. Most of the songs have a fairly dark but not depressing overtone, and many are either inspirational, cautionary, or both. Songs such as "Valley Of Lost Souls", "Let It Play", "Come Hell Or High Water", and "Life Loves A Tragedy" speak of chinning up and being tough in the face of tough times. If you like hard rock with a serious message, but still enjoy having a good time, pick up FLESH AND BLOOD.