Dining With the Sharks

The on-again-off-again relationship between classic Blue Cheer members Dickie Peterson (bass/vocals) and drummer Paul Whaley was indeed on-again when the pair went into the studio to record Dining With Sharks. There might be a little residue left over from the old-time magic the band enjoyed in the ‘60s on this '91 release, but it isn't easy to absorb or appreciate as the two musicians (plus guitarist Dieter Saller) slog their way through mostly forgettable metallic fare. The group branches out stylistically on tracks like "Sweet Child Of The Reeperbahn" but somehow, all the songs still sound alike—due mostly to thin hooks and only average-to-good riffing. The cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Foxy Lady" starts out promising enough, but decomposes rather quickly, and like the rest of Dining with Sharks, falls more than a little flat. Blue Cheer (in its many forms) remained relatively busy making and supporting questionable records like this one through the ‘80s and well into the ‘90s. What's strange about this is that they adopted a faceless musical direction during this "revival" period that was somewhat derivative of artists that had (in all likelihood) been influenced by the band. The results are just about as disappointing as one would expect considering these circumstances.