Retro Album Spotlight: Badlands: Badlands

Badlands made up of former Ozzy guitarist Jake E. Lee and former Black Sabbath vocalist Ray Gillen along with bassist Greg Chaisson and current KISS drummer Eric Singer made one of the best hard rock albums ever with their 1989 self-titled debut.

Unless you already have a copy of the CD, you probably have never heard the band. Due to lawsuits and circumstances I'm not fully versed in, the album is OOP (out of print), not available on streaming services. But there is still ebay and youtube.

The record is a Zeppelin-esque, bluesy hard rock masterpiece. Ray Gillen's vocals are right up there with the great rock singers of all time. Unfortunately his passing in 1993 denied future generations of this talent. Many are familiar with Jake E. Lee's guitar prowess on Ozzy's Bark At The Moon and The Ultimate Sin albums.

If I'm still listening to it over twenty five years after it's release, then it stands the test of time.

Here is "Dreams In The Dark":



And now "Winter's Call":



And just to prove it wasn't all studio creations, here is "High Wire" live:

Saraya: When the Blackbird Sings

Sometimes stuff gets missed for whatever reason. The second album by the band Saraya was missed by me and apparently 99.99% of the world's population. And that's a shame.

Saraya was a hard rock band named after lead singer Sandi Saraya and had couple of minor hits from their self-titled debut that came out in 1989. I bought the cassette (yeah, I'm that old) for the first album based off "Love Has Taken It's Toll", which I still love. Great hard rock song.



The rest of the record, along with the other single "Back To The Bullet" was even more pop metal than this song and not near as good. One good song, I thought. Therefore, I kind of forgot about the band.

Saraya's second album, When The Blackbird Sings, was released in 1992. Classic case of bad timing. Nirvana and the Seattle grunge movement was in full force. This fantastic record fell through the cracks, and that's unfortunate.

This record is over 25 years old and I just heard it for the first time a few days ago. And I must say, it's one of the best hard rock albums, cover to cover, I've heard in a long time. Sounds fresh and not dated. If you like Lita Ford, Queensryche, Whitesnake, Badlands and Halestorm, then you just might find something here for you.

Unfortunately there are no videos, but here's a youtube audio of what I think is a great representation of the entire album.

Musical Reasons to be Excited About Early 2014

There are two very different albums coming out in early 2014 in which I am very excited to hear.

The first, by release date (January 28) is Jake E. Lee's new band Red Dragon Cartel.

I realize some people don't have a clue as to who Jake E. Lee is. Let me give you some history.

Jake replaced the immortal Randy Rhoads in Ozzy Osbourne's band after Randy's tragic death. Jake played guitar and wrote most of the songs (though credit is not given in the re-issues, thanks Sharon) on Ozzy's Bark at the Moon and Ultimate Sin albums Then he went on to form one of the most underrated bands of all time in Badlands with singer Ray Gillen (RIP), bassist Greg Chaisson and drummer Eric Singer (now playing the part of Peter Criss in KISS). Here is a sample.

After a 20-year hiatus Jake E. Lee is back with a new band, new album. I've heard a couple of tracks from the new album, and it sounds just like Jake E. Lee.

The next album is scheduled for a February 4 release date. That is Whiskey Myers' Early Morning Shakes.

Whiskey Myers made their name with constant touring on the Texas Country music scene. But to me they are pure, straight up Southern Rock. Along with Blackberry Smoke, they are keeping Southern Rock alive and well in 2014.

Whiskey Myers have already released a couple of singles off of Early Morning Shakes, the first one being Home.

Pure Southern Rock from some East Texas boys. I'm excited to here the entire album.