Some people tell me I don't give enough of my ant-eating love to Canada. And...they are probably right. But I'll let you folks in on a little secret: my favorite glam metal album from the 90's onwards, which is also one of the best hard rock albums that nobody seems to know about...is, in fact, the sophomore release of one of the better non-Rush Canadian bands to come out of that era.

That 1993 release, Mood Swings, is a truly strange outing that managed the difficult task of bridging the excess of the 80's with the then in-vogue grungy "alternative" rock that was dominating radio at the time, and as far as I know its one of maybe two or three albums from the first half of the 90's that really nails that elusive middle ground. It only charted high in Canada and (interestingly enough) Japan, but the ingredients for the album's appeal are obvious from the first time you spin opening number 'Saviors Never Cry' or the "big" single 'No Justice' that immediately follows: huge guitar dynamics, propulsive and immediate hooks and a surprising amount of variation going on throughout the low-end. Lead vocalist Harry Hess (formally of heavy metal band Blind Vengeance) and his virtuoso guitarist counterpart Pete Lesperance have a killer songwriting and performance chemistry. Out of the 11 songs here, only one isn't an immediate winner...and that's pretty rare considering there are "classic albums" out there that fall into average territory once you take out the key singles that got them attention in the first place.

Perhaps the funniest thing about Mood Swings though is that even twenty years later, Harem Scarem themselves haven't been able to recreate it nor top it. Hell, just this past year they re-recorded the album for no reason and released it as "Mood Swings II". And, as you can guess, it's pretty meh. Despite having state of the art production values, you can't bottle lightning twice. Hell, most bands can't even bottle it once...

Just take my word for it, check out a few songs, and pick this album up amigos. Heavy yet poptastic perfection like this shouldn't be forgotten!