Rough Cutt: Wants You!

Originally released in 1986, Wants You was the second (and sadly, final) album from Los Angeles-based melodic rock band Rough Cutt. The band, which featured vocal powerhouse Paul Shortino, had a brief career, but failed to take off with the rest of the Hollywood hair metal scene.

Wants You picks up right where the Rough Cutt debut left off. It’s another very melodic, somewhat bluesy hard rock album with some very catchy, radio-friendly tunes and a soulful vocal performance by Shortino. There were no real hits from this one, but songs like “Bad Reputation,” “Take a Chance” and “Rock the USA” could have been with the right push from the label.

As good as Wants You is, it failed to put Rough Cutt in the spotlight the way bands like Ratt and Dokken were. The label dropped them and Shortino left for a brief stint in Quiet Riot. This (and the Rough Cutt debut) remains one of the forgotten gems of the ‘80s melodic hard rock scene, and is an album that serious fans and collectors of bands like Quiet Riot, King Kobra, Ratt and Y&T needs to own, especially now that it has been reissued.

Reissue Notes: For the longest time, the only way to get this album on CD was a pricy Japanese import or an non-remastered 2-on-1 with the Rough Cutt debut. The Rock Candy label fixed that earlier this year with their deluxe reissue of Wants You. This reissue features digitally remastered audio and a booklet loaded with vintage photos and a band history/interview. There are no bonus tracks, but having this album remastered should be more than enough reason to upgrade if you have an earlier version.

Rough Cutt 2