Jackyl released their 7th studio album Best In Show on July 31, 2012 through Mighty Loud Records. The album features cover songs of "It's Tricky" by Run-D.M.C. and "Cover of the Rolling Stone" by Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show. The reviewer enjoyed the album's hard rocking sound and gritty lyrics but felt some songs had poor production quality and the Run-D.M.C. cover was a weak effort. Overall the album received a positive review for its in your face rock style.

1. Best In Show by rock band Jackyl (July 31, 2012) their 7th studio album. It is
off of Mighty Loud Records.
Album Background
This album was released on the same day as Jesse’s son Nigel Dupree, and his
band The Nigel Dupree Band’s second released entitled ’Up To No Good’
This album was given positive reviews by critics. William Clark of Guitar
International was one of those positive reviews stating "Best In Show proves
even though the members of Jackyl are 20 years older, nothing has changed when
it comes to their crazy party attitude". I defiantly agree with this
This album features covers of Run-D.M.C’s ’It Tricky’ and "Cover of the Rolling
Stone" by Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show.
Track by Track Review:
1. Best In Show ’ I like the rocking feel of this track and its drum driven
beat. One downside of this track is that the jamming vocals seem to be
overpowered by the instruments. (As if the vocals are muffled in the
background).
2. Encore ’ This song has a gritty sound both especially lyrically but also
musically. It’s a very sexual song in meaning as it deals with wanting more sex,
an ’encore’. I love this songs opening with the partial drum beats. Lyrically I
love the catchy rough descriptive lyrics.
3. Screwdriver ’ This is the first single I heard off this album, immediately
I saw that It was a hit with its catchy, sexual lyrics, guitar driven & hard
rock feel. This song reminds me of ’Lumberjack’ off of Jackyl’s debut 1992 album
because of the fun but sexual and rocking theme.
4. Horns Up ’ A guitar-driven song, lyrically this song is good especially
with the group vocals.
5. Golden Spookytooth ’ This song says blues rock to me. It has a slow
rocking pace with deep guitar riffs.
6 The Cover of the Rolling Stone (Dr Hook & The Medicine Show cover) - This
a cover of the Dr Hook & The Medicine Show classic ’Cover of The Rolling Stone’
off their 1973 album Sloppy Seconds. The cover is very country sounding, much
like the original. I like the addition of the ’Lumberjack’ chain and Queen ’We
Will Rock You’ beat. After hearing this I hope Jackyl does some more country
sounding songs because this one is done perfectly. the country tone really fits
Jesse’s voice nicely.
7 Walk My Mile ’ Bass-driven song, a classic slower paced southern rock
song. The lyrics are perfect by Jesse, very creepy sounding. This song is
about getting back at the man? (Government or record label). And just wanting
to be yourself? I love the long guitar solo in the middle of this song,
something that seems abstract from this album so far.
8 Favorite Sin ’ Another guitar-driven hard rock song. This song is about a
guy who is after a girl who he knows is bad news and is bad for him. Awesome
guitar solo’
9 Better Than Chicken ’ A funny kinda different song, shows the humor of
Jackyl, Who else writes about chicken? Lol Awesome guitar solo and catchy
lyrics.
10 Don't Lay Down On Me ’ This is the ballad of the record I would say. It
sounds very personal lyrically and vocally Jesse speaks with a rough tone that
is very different from anything off this album. This song kind of reminds me of
’Secret of the Bottle’ with its slow tempo. I believe this song was written from
Jesse’s past about getting burned in a relationship? Or it could be about the
people who lost faith in Jacky’s musical vision.
11 Eleven’ Another guitar-driven song. Lyrically this song is interesting it
could be about being the underdog and/or never being believed in and having to
pull a miracle in the ’final hour’ to gain trust.
12 It's Tricky (Run D.M.C Cover) ’ I don’t actually like this cover of the
song. I appreciate what Jackyl was trying to do with honoring Run D.M.C but I
feel it was just a bad effort. Maybe it was because of production issues but I
just felt that Jesse especially was being overshadowed; as it seems he didn’t
really have a major part lyrically.
Overall I really liked this album.
’ I like the ’rock your face off’ approach that the band look on this album,
from the very beginning it goes hard with rough catchy vocals, thundering bass,

2. powerful guitar-leads and gritty drum work .Really perfect all –across the
board.
– Jesse–s vocals are really good except for the song Best In Show where they
seem kind of overshadowed by the drums and guitars.
Downsides
– Some of the production, especially on the first couple tracks of this
album is rough; by that I mean that the vocals are overshadowed.
– The Cover of Run D.M.C–S –It–s Tricky– was very poor in my opinion; I
can–t really pinpoint the issue with it; I think it may have something to do
with the production because the lead vocals sound pretty bad. The original Run
D.M.C recording sounded fresh while this version was just kind of flat and
boring. As I said before I appreciate Jackyl–s effort in doing this but it
really left a sour taste in my mouth.
Favorite songs: Encore (It Makes My Dick Bigger), Screwdriver, The Cover of
the Rolling Stone, Walk My Mile,
To recap I really did enjoy this album, with its in your face lyrics and
aggressive and hard rocking musicianship. As I said before the only downside to
this album is its lackluster production at points and the cover of Its Tricky–.
Overall this is just a rocking release; I would defiantly recommend it to any
Jackyl fan or southern rock fan. Since summer is coming around I suggest you
open the windows and rock out. My review is 9/10.