''Psycho Café'' is the first full-length album by American rock band

Bang Tango Bang Tango is an American hard rock band. The band was formed in Los Angeles in 1988 and was signed to MCA Records the same year. History Formation (1988) Initially the band was founded by guitarist Mark Knight and bassist Kyle Kyle in 1 ...

. It was released in 1989. ''Psycho Café'' peaked at number 58 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart in 1989. The music video for "Someone Like You" was a staple of early 1990s

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

. The album was reissued on CD by

Rock Candy Records Rock Candy Records is an independent record label based in the United Kingdom. Founded by ex-''Kerrang!'' writers Derek Oliver and Dante Bonutto in 2005, the label primarily specializes in CD reissues of rock and heavy metal albums from the 1 ...

in September 2022.

Critical reception

The ''

Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph ''The Gazette'' is a daily newspaper based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States. It has operated since 1873. History The publication began as ''Out West'', beginning March 23, 1872, but failed in its endeavor. The company relaunched ...

'' concluded that "the subject matter is often infantile, and Joe Leste's voice has the tendency to wear one's nerves thin in anything more than small doses, but the instrumental aspect of the record is very good."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

wrote that "this excellent album demonstrates that not all bands that were part of L.A. glam metal in the late '80s/early '90s played mindless fluff." ''

The Encyclopedia of Popular Music ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' is an encyclopedia created in 1989 by Colin Larkin. It is the "modern man's" equivalent of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music'', which Larkin describes in less than flattering terms.''The Times'', ''The Kno ...

'' called ''Psycho Cafe'' "a refreshingly honest, but slightly offbeat, hard rock album."

Accolades

"Someone Like You" was featured at number 9 in ''

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. The paper covers music, arts, film, theater, culture, and other local news in the Los Angeles area. ''LA Weekly'' was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin (among others), ...

s "The 10 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the Hair Metal Era" list. ''Psycho Café'' landed at number 37 on ''Rolling Stones ''50 Greatest Hair Metal Albums of All Time'' list. Bang Tango came in at number 36 on

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

's Hair Metal 100 Countdown list, which cited ''Psycho Café'' as "taking hair metal in a direction that, in large part, led to the genre's undoing." It also stated that had the album come out a year later, it would have been more lumped in with the alternative metal at the time.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Joe Leste, Tigg Ketler, Mark Knight, Kyle Kyle and Kyle Stevens # "Attack of Life" – 4:18 # "Someone like You" – 4:20 # "Wrap My Wings" – 4:44 # "Breaking up a Heart of Stone" – 4:55 # "Shotgun Man" – 3:20 # "Don't Stop Now" – 3:26 # "Love Injection" – 4:31 # "Just for You" – 4:06 # "Do What You're Told" – 3:21 # "Sweet Little Razor" – 4:20

Personnel

Bang Tango

* Joe Lesté –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

* Mark Knight –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

* Kyle Stevens –

* Kyle Kyle –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

* Tigg Ketler –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Production

Howard Benson Howard Michael Benson (born July 20, 1956) is an American record producer from Havertown, Pennsylvania. He has been nominated for two Grammy Awards for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2007 and 2008, among two wins and 16 total nominati ...

–

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

Charts

References

Bang Tango albums 1989 debut albums MCA Records albums {{1980s-metal-album-stub