• Reviews

• All
• Music
• DVDs
• Live
• Cinema
• TV
• Books
• Comic Books
• Video Games

Jul 15, 2026 Web Exclusive By Frank Valish

Urge Overkill began as a scrappy, well-dressed trio of Chicago boys, a sort of glammed-out punk outfit that never quite fit in, despite working with Steve Albini for its debut EP, Strange, I… and the full-length Jesus Urge Superstar in 1989, as well as Butch Vig for 1990’s Americruiser. One more Albini-produced album on indie Touch and Go Records didn’t do much, until Nirvana broke the door down for “alternative rock” in the early ’90s and the dapperly donned band notched a modest hit with its 1993 album Saturation and the MTV track “Sister Havana.” Its cover of Neil Diamond’s “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon” brought Urge Overkill to its commercial peak when it was used by Quentin Tarantino in 1994’s Pulp Fiction, but instead of being the break that propelled the band to super-stardom, things died down with a bit of a whimper. One final album from the core trio of Nash Kato, Eddie “King” Roeser, and drummer Blackie Onassis, 1995’s Enter the Dragon, failed to capture the public’s interest in the same fashion a their previous album and big hit cover, and the band ruptured soon after.

Originally released at the height of the CD era, Exit the Dragon has not received a proper vinyl reissue until now, on occasion of its 30th anniversary in newly remastered, pink and purple double vinyl set from Porterhouse Records. The album limps out of the gate with the staid “Jaywalkin’,” which fails to capitalize on any momentum the band had gathered in the previous years. But despite the slow start, Exit the Dragon wastes no time in rectifying the situation. “The Break” rides on Roeser’s too-cool-for-school vocals, unimpeachable tunefulness, a Stones-esque guitar line, and propulsive drums. Kato’s croon make its debut lead vocal on the energetic rocker “Need Some Air,” a song with furious energy and all the tunefulness, mystery, and elegant mystique that made the band’s previous album a success. And the acoustic ballad “Somebody Else’s Body” rounds out the first four tracks with a nod to the vibe that made the band’s cover of “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon” a hit.

And with that, side 1 of the reissue comes to a conclusion, and ultimately Exit the Dragon finally settles into itself. “Honesty Files” is lean and mean rock and roll. “This Is No Place” beguiles with one of the album’s best guitar riffs. “Take Me” is power pop as only Urge Overkill could do. And “The Mistake” finds Onassis taking lead vocals in a song that foreshadows the band’s nearing collapse in a haze of touring stress and Onassis’ own drug problems.

Of the reissue itself, Porterhouse’s pressing is clean, distinct, and powerful, improving the overall sound of the album from its CD counterpart. “View of the Rain,” an album single which never did as much as it probably should have, highlights Kato’s vocals, an emotional, acoustic ballad that begins with the harrowing lyric, “I don’t try anymore, ‘cause only booze improves with age.” And the multi-part “Last Night/Tomorrow” is probably the band’s best song, unfortunately hidden 10 tracks into an album that never really connected at the time of its release.

Whether it be due to its length (Exit the Dragon is almost 20 minutes longer than its predecessor, hardly a lean and mean follow up to Saturation), a fickle alternative rock-loving populace that had simply moved on, or perhaps an overcorrecting reaction to the big Neil Diamond cover, Exit the Dragon never fared as well as the music therein would have suggested it should have, and it ultimately marked the end of the band’s ’90s popularity. Porterhouse Records has rectified this 30-year-old wrong. Appreciate Exit the Dragon anew, as the album that should have continued the band’s rise rather than preceded its fall. (www.porterhouserecords.com)

Author rating: 8/10