Poison Something to Believe In Review

When it comes to Poison in general, I am not a fan of this band.  Most of their songs are not great musically and their lyrics were generic lyrics based on girls and partying. Unlike how most bands of the 80's made up for their easy lyrics with amazing instrumental technique, this band never excelled that far and their music suffered for it.  Their look was also one of the worst looks in hair metal.  While a lot of the bands of the 80's wore make up looked feminine, Poison was the band that took it over the top.  On their album cover for "Look What the Cat Dragged in" they look like full on girls.  However, they did have one song I came to appreciate and give them props on. That song is "Something to Believe In".

The first thing I will say is that Bret Michaels actually sounds good vocally on this song.  He clearly is singing what he feels and it sounds very authentic.  While his vocal style may not work in every song this band does, it works well in this song.  His voice really adds to the sorrowful tone the song is expressing.  The piano is very effective in setting up the song's tone and really is key in carrying the song.  I feel that if the piano wasn't in the song, the song wouldn't be as effective, so that was a good move on the band's part.  However, the one major problem in this song is C.C. Deville's guitar solo. My biggest problem with it is how repetitive it is.  He does a lot of  playing the same note 3 or 4 times in a row and it really sticks out.  It isn't a problem if he did once or twice but he does it many times through out his solo.  He tries to disguise it by bending the note a different way each time he picks it, or he just plays it fast.  However,  he doesn't hide it well and since he does is so much you catch on to it.  He should of either made it shorter and simpler like in White Lion's song "When the Children Cry" or keep it in a more narrow set of notes such as Skid Row's  "I Remember You".  He made the mistake of trying to sound technical when he really wasn't being that technical.  

Where this song really shines is in the lyrics.  It starts off with Bret Michaels singing about a pastor  stealing money, not practicing what he preaches and then transitions into a story about a Vietnam Veteran not being welcomed backed to U.S. after he came home from the war.  He sings about how people treated the Vet badly.  The second verse is really what inspired this whole song.  It is about Poison's manager who had past away and how the band felt about that.  Bret Michaels said that his managers death is what caused him to write this song.  Overall, the lyrics in this song are very deep and the message is about trying to stay positive and finding something to believe in when you are going through rough times. 

This is without a doubt one of Poison's best songs.  While it doesn't change my view on this band overall, I still have to give them credit for this song.  It is deep, it is authentic, it's music really reflects the tone and message well.  C.C. Deville's guitar solo is nothing special and actually hurts the song in my opinion, but even with it I still enjoy listening to this song.  I give "Something to Believe In" a 4 out of 5.