Leader of the Banned

Sam Kinison didn’t just want to be a comic; he wanted to be a rock star. Leader of the Banned is the artifact that proves it. Split straight down the middle, the release dedicates Side A to his trademark high-volume stand-up and hands Side B over to a full-blown glam-metal vanity project. Backed by musicians like Slash, C.C. DeVille, and Randy Jackson, the back half of the record features the comedian shrieking his way through covers of “Highway to Hell” and “Mississippi Queen.”

Recorded at Bally’s in Las Vegas, the comedy portion captures a performer leaning entirely into his own chaos. He tears through tracks like “Casual Users of Terrorism,” “Old People Must Die,” and “Grilled Cheese Sandwich,” deploying his signature Pentecostal outbursts at every turn. By 1990, his confrontational material was drawing organized protests outside his shows, while his offstage life unspooled into a string of car crashes and substance issues. The audio carries that friction, capturing a high-intensity rant from a man burning through a sudden surplus of fame and controversy.

Reviewers were predictably mixed on the final product. Critics praised the Vegas material but largely wrote off the musical covers as a misguided flex.