Here is yet another “archive release” from specialty label, Eonian Records. WANTED were a band out of Indianapolis, IN who came onto the scene in 1989. Their sound can immediately be compared to MOTLEY CRUE and STEELHEART, especially vocally as singer Robert Sisk has a similar high-pitched approach. Musically and image-wise these guys are pure “hair metal” and this CD seems to represent all the material the band had in the vault as it features seven demo-quality tracks and another seven live tracks from a record label showcase show they played back in the day.

The live cuts (which surprisingly none appear as studio versions on the record) are of typical bootleg quality; rough around the edges but still getting the point across as to how the band sounded in concert.

Focusing more on the studio cuts offered on “Too Hot To Handle”, you get the typical hair band style with Sisk being something of a standout as his vocals seemed to be a bit better than your average unsigned local act. Album opening “Whiskey & Women” reminds one of a sleazier SKID ROW or an earlier and not as edgy version of MOTLEY CRUE. These guys would have fit in nicely with the legion of bands on Sunset Strip back in the late eighties.

“Lost in Me Forever” (one of two tracks recorded in LA for Geffen Records execs) is one of the better the band has to offer as it is reminds a bit of the long lost band SWEET FA (think the track “Stick To You Guns”) just a bit.

On the whole you don’t get anything from WANTED that hasn’t been heard before by countless other Strip and hair bands but I could certainly see how they could have had a following in the Midwest back in the day as this style was the flavor of the day.