No Rules is the debut and only full-length studio album by American hard rock band Kik Tracee, released in May 1991 through RCA Records.
Kik Tracee followed Slaughter as they toured and worked with Strum on his days off, recording in five studios located across three different states.
[5][1] Despite the difficulties, Douglas credited Strum with "[focusing]" Kik Tracee's sound and music, and he and lead vocalist Stephen Shareaux both stated that the fragmented recording process had positive aspects, as the extra time the band took to record the album caused them to improve their songwriting.
[1] In September 1991, Kik Tracee embarked on a 13-city national tour to promote the album, starting in the Midwest before branching out to cities on the West Coast and East Coast, holding shows in cities including Denver, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Seattle.
[9][10] Douglas stated that the band wanted to release the "Mrs. Robinson" cover as a single due to a trend of hard rock bands releasing commercially successful covers of older songs but that their record label, RCA, was hesitant to do so and ultimately decided against it.
complimented Kik Tracee's ability to compose songs with "great beginnings," exciting middle sections, and strong endings.
The reviewer, John Urban, complimented the band for "composing marketable hard rock without using cliché [sic] lyrics and dated guitar riffs as a crutch."
Urban singled out Stephen Shareaux's evocative and interesting lyrics, the band's approach to songwriting and structuring in prioritizing "arranging quality songs [over] trying to prove what guitar gods they are," and Shareaux's unique vocal style, as positive aspects of the band's style.
Reviewer Brenda Hermann found the first half of the album to be "structurally unsound" and criticized "Big Western Sky" and "Trash City" for being based on "overused" tropes in the genre.
Gold compared Kik Tracee to Warrant and Jane's Addiction and stated that Kik Tracee's music featured "sappy hooks, an occasionally interesting bass line, a decent drummer and a singer who cleaves to the Dionysian, depraved-rock-god school of performance but can't really carry a tune.
They distinguished "You're So Strange," "Big Western Sky," "Generation Express," "Velvet Crush," and "Rattlesnake Eyes (Strawberry Jam)" as standout tracks.
[4] AllMusic reviewer Alex Henderson criticized the band for emulating Guns N' Roses in their style, making an "ultra-slick" album, and offering generally "routine and uninteresting" material, although Henderson singled out "Trash City" and the cover of "Mrs. Robinson" as standout tracks.