Open Up and Say... Ahh!

Open Up and Say… Ahh!, was the second and most successful album by American hair metal band Poison (band).

The album, which ultimately sold eight million copies worldwide, was released on May 3, 1988 on the Enigma label of Capitol Records. Although stylistically similar to Poison’s debut album Look What the Cat Dragged In, the record contained stronger song writing and spawned the major hits “Nothin’ But a Good Time”, “Your Mama Don’t Dance”, “Fallen Angel”, and the number one single “Every Rose Has Its Thorn”.

The album’s themes were partying (“Nothin’ But a Good Time”, “Your Mama Don’t Dance”), lost innocence (“Back to the Rocking Horse”, “Fallen Angel”), lost love (“Every Rose Has Its Thorn”) crime (“Bad to Be Good”), and, most importantly, sex (“Love on the Rocks”, “Good Love”, “Tearin’ Down the Walls”, “Look But You Can’t Touch”).

The track “Your Mama Don’t Dance” was a cover version of the 1972 song written by Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina.

The front cover of the album, which featured model “Bambi” dressed as a luminous red demon with a protruding tongue, caused controversy amongst church and parental groups. In United States the album was released with a censored cover in which most of the model’s face was obscured.

The album was recorded and mixed at Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California. Paul Stanley of the band Kiss was originally selected to produce the record, but was unable to fulfil the role due to scheduling conflicts. Instead, the band worked with Tom Werman. Werman was an experienced rock producer, having worked with artists such as Ted Nugent, Cheap Trick, Twisted Sister, and Mötley Crüe.