L.A. GUNS, featuring Phil Lewis and Tracii Guns, will release a new live album, "Cocked & Loaded Live", on July 9 via Frontiers Music Srl. As the title implies, the performance celebrates the band's treasured second album, "Cocked & Loaded". Fans can get another taste of the performance with the track "Wheels Of Fire". "Cocked & Loaded Live" will precede the release of a brand new studio album from Lewis, Guns and company, "Checkered Past", which is due in November.
As everyone knows at this point, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a difficult blow to the entire live music business. While artists, road crews, venues, and fans all collectively eagerly await a return to normalcy, artists have gotten busy bringing live music to fans' living rooms. While they had just commenced work on an upcoming new studio album, in November 2020, L.A. GUNS wanted to get together and do one of the things they love most, which is play a "live" show. The band announced a special gig at the Fremont Country Club in Las Vegas, Nevada that would celebrate the 31st anniversary of "Cocked and Loaded".
Lewis, Guns, Ace Von Johnson, Johnny Martin and Scot Coogan, thus played a one-of-a-kind show which was streamed worldwide to fans in the comfort of their own homes. The band performed all the classic proper studio tracks from "Cocked & Loaded" and, as usual, delivered a killer show. Picking right up where they left off from their previous incessant touring cycles and relieved to finally be onstage again, the band tore through all the classic album tracks that fans know and love. From "Rip And Tear" to "Never Enough" to "The Ballad Of Jayne" to "I Wanna Be Your Man" and "Malaria", this was a primal, visceral performance. And while celebrating a milestone in their career, the band also acknowledged the present and played "Speed" from their more recent album "The Missing Peace".
"We played only 'Cocked & Loaded' and 'Speed' — one extra song — and the recording is fantastic," Tracii told TotalRock. "And it was a really meager kind of weird gig — it was weird — but the recording is great; it really turned out great. So Frontiers asked if we could put it out, and [we said], 'Yeah. Okay.' So the packaging is great. The album is great. And that comes out. So that's definitely for all the L.A. GUNS fans that wanna hear great versions of those songs live."
"Cocked & Loaded Live" track listing:
01. Slap In The Face
02. Rip And Tear
03. Sleazy Come Easy Go
04. Never Enough
05. Malaria
06. The Ballad Of Jayne
07. Magdalaine
08. Give A Little
09. Speed
10. 17 Crash
11. Showdown (Riot On Sunset)
12. Wheels Of Fire
13. I Wanna Be Your Man
This past April, a settlement was reached between drummer Steve Riley and Guns and Lewis over the rights to the L.A. GUNS name. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Guns and Lewis will continue to operate under the L.A. GUNS trademark, while Riley and his bandmates from the other version of L.A. GUNS will now operate under the new name RILEY'S L.A. GUNS.
In May 2020, L.A. GUNS released a new single, "Let You Down". The song was written and recorded while the band was in the midst of working on its next studio album.
L.A. GUNS is:
Phil Lewis - vocals
Tracii Guns - guitars
Ace Von Johnson - guitars
Johnny Martin - bass
Scot Coogan - drums
