Eternal Live

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Slaughter were never one of the premier pop-metal groups -- they arrived too late and only had two Top 40 hits, "Up All Night" and "Fly to the Angels" -- but they were one of the first to sign to CMC International, thereby proving that pop-metal could have a second life as a cult act on independent labels. By the time the group released Eternal Live in 1998, they had made as many records for CMC International as they had for Chrysalis -- but chances are that many of the fans who attended their concerts had only a passing knowledge of those latter-day records. That's probably why they rely on Stick It to Ya and Wild Life on Eternal Live, throwing in only a couple Fear No Evil and Revolution cuts to illustrate that they're still recording. As a result, it's not much different than a "greatest hits live" album, only with the latter-day tracks functioning as lost singles no one ever heard at the time. Truth be told, the newer material isn't far removed from their hits, and it isn't particularly bad, either. Dedicated fans will probably enjoy listening to this record, since the group is actually growing better as a live act (this is far better than Stick It Live), but there's not much reason for anyone other than dedicated fans to get it. [A Japanese version adds a bonus track.]