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:

Ace and Paul Together Again

Get the old band back together. Well not really, but founding members of KISS Ace Frehley and Paul Stanley did record a song together, "Fire and Water" for Ace's latest album Origins Vol. 1. Happy to say that Paul sounds really good and Ace is Ace. Have a listen.

Michael Bolton, Bruce Kulick and Blackjack

Blue eyed soul crooner Michael Bolton and former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick were once in a band together. I did not that know that until today. And I find that fascinating.

The short-lived band Blackjack released a self-titled album in 1979. Along with Bolton and Kulick, the band was made up of bassist Jimmy Haslip and drummer Sandy Gennaro. What a lineup. Had they stuck together through the MTV era, who knows what might have happened.

I dug up an old video of Blackjack via youtube. The band's sound is a bit reminiscent of Bad Company. And if you watch the video, I would swear that Harry Shearer based his look in Spinal Tap from Haslip's look at this time.

This is interesting to me. Hope you enjoy.

More Country Than 2014 Mainstream Country: KISS

"Hard Luck Woman" by KISS.

Album Review: Night Ranger: High Road

If your familiarity with Night Ranger begins and ends with "Sister Christian", well, you're not alone. And that's a shame. While "Sister Christian" is the quintessential ballad of 80's hard rock, Night Ranger is, and always has been so much more.

Night Ranger released their 11th studio album last month, High Road. It may just be their best effort yet. Over 30 years after their debut release Dawn Patrol, Night Ranger is still bringing it. While years of hard living and age have taken something away from Jack Blades and Kelly Keagy in the vocal department, the musicianship has only improved.

This is probably the most diverse record Night Ranger has put out. From classic 80's-style rockers to KISS meets Loverboy to a Styx/Kansas/Deep Purple 70's style mashup, it's all good.

Here's the shame of it all: Nobody outside of hardcore Night Ranger fans and good music archaeologists is going to hear it if left up to traditional outlets.  If you're reading this, you don't rely on traditional outlets, so I'm going track-by-track here.

The record starts off with the title track "High Road". Fun summertime song. Big chorus. "You don't need us, you need a mind of your own." Favorite line from the song. Roll down the windows and blast this one.

"Knock Knock Never Stop" is pure 80's-style fun. Catchy chorus. Big guitar solo. Which is a good time to mention guitarists Brad Gillis and Joel Hoekstra. Killer guitar riffs throughout this record.

"Rollin' On" brings on the heavier side of Night Ranger. This is the KISS meets Loverboy song. If you don't see the connection, listen to more music.

"Don't Live Here Anymore" is a 70's style ballad the evokes the sounds of Styx and Kansas with a touch of Deep Purple and Lynyrd Skynyrd. This may be my favorite song on the album, but I may change my mind tomorrow. There are so many layers to the song. Lyrically it's mature and introspective. Musically it goes so many places, and all are good.

"I'm Coming Home" is a classic country lyric set to Thin Lizzy style rock music. Or maybe it's just reminiscent of Thin Lizzy. It's catchy and it rocks.

"X Generation" falls a bit flat, especially lyrically, but the guitar work almost makes up for that.

"Only For You Only" is the kind of ballad Night Ranger made famous. It's not bad. It's not great. There's no place in current rock radio for it to find a home, but it would be better than 90% of what's being played on current country radio. And no, it's not a country song. But neither is mainstream country radio.

"Hang On" is a very Classic Rock sounding song that would be very much at home on an early Foreigner record. But it doesn't sound dated.

"St. Bartholomew" starts out with the chug of early Judas Priest, but seamlessly transforms by the chorus into a melodic rock track.

"Brothers" is very Beatles-esque. I don't know how else to describe it. Probably my least favorite track. But it's not horrible.

"L.A. No Name" ends the record and is very un-Night Ranger like. It's an acoustic guitar instrumental. And it's fantastic.





Night Ranger on Amazon.

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