AMG Review of RFTC: Direct Metal Master

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music Guide

It's a bit of a mystery why it took Rocket from the Crypt a full three years to deliver RFTC, the followup to their major-label debut Scream, Dracula, Scream. After all, diversity isn't Rocket from the Crypt's bag -- they just love rock & roll, baby, and all of the sleaze, leather, booze, bikes and babes that come with it. Before, they kept raw by producing their own records, but here they hired an outside producer in Kevin Shirley, who previously worked with Journey. There's not a trace of Journey on RFTC, but Shirley has given the band a bigger, glossier sound that may distress longtime followers, who were into the whole MC5/Stooges/Stones biker vibe of the earlier albums. That said, RFTC rocks harder and with more attitude than almost any other record released under the alternative umbrella in the late '90s. The guys haven't lost it -- they've just found another way to say it.