King Kobra ~ Ready To Strike (album review) ... Be quick or be bitten!

Style: hard rock
Label: Capitol
Year: 1985
Home: n/a

Members: Carmine Appice ~ drums/b. vocals
Mark Free (Marcie Free) ~ vocals
Mick Sweda, David Michael-Philips (David Henzerling) ~ guitar/b. vocals
Johnny Rod ~ bass/b. vocals

A bit of a cult following has grown up around KK, pushed mostly by the who's who versus the music itself: legendary drummer Carmine Appice leads the pack in reputation; bassist Johnny Rod went on to W.A.S.P.; singer Mark Free, or Marcie Free after coming out as transgendered, formed Unruly Child with members of World Trade, a band that featured future Yes guitarist Billy Sherwood; guitarist David Michael-Philip, aka David Henzerling, played in the sessions for Lizzy Borden's climactic solo release Master Of Disguise & guitarist Mick Sweda formed the Bulletboys. Later members include singers Johnny Edwards of Montrose & Foreigner & future Baton Rouge/Trans-Siberian Orchestra singer Kelly Keeling. KK was formed by Appice after spending some time with Ozzy Osbourne & was a four album bridge before he dissolved the band to work with Blue Murder featuring the Firm bassist Tony Franklin & Whitesnake guitarist John Sykes. Though, by then, only Appice remained as the only steady member as after the first two releases line-up changes became common with King Kobra III even hitting the shelves sans a band to tour it. KK returned in 2010 with the original line-up for a new album but now with famed New York vocalist & producer Paul Shortino, once of Quiet Riot. Ready To Strike is KK's debut with what is considered the best line-up, but that doesn't really say much ... neither does the fact that by the time of their second album, with this same line-up, they were getting MTV buzz & opening for Kiss, Iron Maiden, Queensryche & Ted Nugent. If it says anything it's that KK has strong musicians, a popular sound & a good PR machine, helped in part by Appice's reputation & by getting a song in the Iron Eagle movie soundtrack. But, in hindsight KK is more a historian's band. For many, both now & potentially then, it's just another L.A. glam/hair metal band culling from the Hanoi Rocks influence from the sound to the looks, almost embarrassingly in hindsight, even if they were based somewhat in New York. The music has all the trademarks of MTV hair metal - lots of guitars, slow acoustic power ballad love songs, rock'n'roll themed lyrics (i.e. "Ready To Strike", "Shake Up"), songs about courting danger (i.e. "Shadow Rider", "Breakin' Out"), common high pitched vocals, lots of chorus backing vocals & some synthesizer touches. If it wasn't for their membership they'd probably fall into anonymity more than they have as so many bands that sound just like them, better & worse, have. Though, it should be said that given a different or more interesting musical context, or at least a less cliched one, or perhaps with more distinctive musicians, some of the more unique lyrics would be drawn out more. "Second Thoughts" is an interesting twist on a love song about a guy watching his girl getting dressed up to go out with some friends "but with that perfume that you're wearing/those friends make no sense" & he's asked "honey, try to understand". While "Touch Guys" is about the contradiction between no tears masculinity & being sensitive, with "I'm hard on the outside, that's how I survive/but baby deep in my soul is where you had complete control/but you'll never see a teardrop in my eye" that reeks of Appice's Long Island roots. The really strange thing, & I almost hate to say this given his reputation, is that it's hard to figure out what makes Appice such a great drummer from this release. Drumming styles might be the hardest instrument in a band to decipher, but there are still some drummers that grab you like no other with or without being seen. Appice just seems to be taking a standard approach not out of the ordinary ... & I say this having heard other releases with him. Perhaps its something behind the scenes, such as his ability to bring together top musicians or maybe it's his composing which is a hard thing to judge in a group setting. I'll confess I picked this up cheap recently, on cassette no less, because of Appice's involvement & I've met Rod & Keeling. Yes, I was willing to go backwards in audio technology to hear the band ... & support a local record store ... & enjoy the nostalgic experience of listening to a cassette like I did near daily growing up. Though, it might be folks of my mindset that will pick up KK, sadly.

D'Priest (aka London) ~ Playa Del Rock (album review) ... A completely under-rated '80's singer!

Style: hard rock, heavy metal
Label: Noise
Year: 1990
Home: California

Members: Nadir D'Priest ~ vocals
Brian West ~ bass
Sean Lewis ~ guitar
Alan Krigger ~ drums
Vince Gilbert ~ keyboards

Additional: Guy Babylon, Jimmy Greenspoon ~ keyboards
Paul Frank, Bobby Gianetti, Brent Lowe, Vickey Seeger, Shane Smith ~ b. vocals

Antonio D'Priest, or more commonly Nadir D'Priest, might not be a name known to many outside of 80's rock fans but he's a singer well worth investigating. Nadir D'Priest rose to fame as the fifth & so far final frontman of the 70's/80's glam band London which, like the bands Johnny Crash & Badlands, became more famous for its members' future bands than any chart hits, as it included a pre-Motley Crue Nikki Sixx, a pre-W.A.S.P. Blackie Lawless, pre-Guns N' Roses Slash & Izzy Stradlin & Steven Adler, a pre-Cinderella Fred Coury & a post-Mott The Hoople Nigel Benjamin with their second album produced by Runaways creator Kim Fowley. The third & final album, coming 4 years after its predecessor, Playa Del Rock saw the band rechristened as D'Priest, though some releases included the London name. By 1990 no original members remained while the alumni had already hit the peaks of their respective careers & begun the settlement into less exciting but more comfortable positions. The newest London album would keep the fame tradition alive by including notable musicians in drummer Alan Krigger, formerly of the Ike & Tina Turner band, & The Cult's keyboardist Vince Gilbert ... rocking beside lesser known but an equally talented guitarist & bassist. By 1991 the band would break up, though the Playa Del Rock line-up would perform periodic reunions both as D'Priest & London to the present day. Though this final album may not immediately seem like the most obvious choice to discover the London legacy it's actually a perfect introduction. D'Priest is a band that in many ways should have theoretically parted ways by the time they recorded Playa Del Rock after achieving little commercial success, going through 19 members in the tradition of Yes & having only 2 albums with neither featuring any of the future superstars. Playa Del Rock is a band that almost has given up on success & is now just playing music they like & hoping someone else likes it too. Further, it's just far enough away from the mid-80's hair metal peak to give it a more modern edge that sounds like something that could arrive on the shelves today. Though being named after its lead singer makes this appear more like a solo album than a London album. With the 4 year gap between recordings & a line-up change it very well might be on some level ... in the same way that Doro's first solo album is more a Warlock album but with a name change. The band is definitely dominated by its frontman who also had a hand in the songwriting & essentially molding the sound. I want to write 'if you like Sebastian Bach', but Bach is second rate compared to Nadir D'Priest who may go for similar highs & screeches, let alone attitude, but has vocal control equal to Ronnie James Dio who might be a better comparison. Lyrically the album isn't that exciting, or any more exciting than its 80's peers with groin-drenched love song after love song, but Nadir D'Priest's vocal style carries it to new heights with a superb band behind him rocking out with great arrangements. Yeah, it verges on cliché 80's hair metal but somehow it all sounds new & fresh even if the band was working on its temporarily final gears.

W.A.S.P. ~ W.A.S.P. (aka debut) (album review) ... The sting of the wasp will never be forgotten!

Style: heavy metal, shock rock, 80's rock
Label: Capitol
Year: 1984
Home: Los Angeles

Members: Blackie Lawless ~ lead vocals/bass
Chris Holmes ~ guitar
Randy Piper ~ guitars/backing vocals
Tony Richards ~ drums/backing vocals

 

 

  Upon first listen my initial thoughts are: 1) Blackie Lawless really doesn't sing, 2) this reminds me of Motorhead, 3) rock-n-roll is usually seen as being rooted in carnality & W.A.S.P. leaves any who disagree with that high & dry. Now, an explanation. 1) Rough voiced Blackie can't really sing but neither does he growl, as is the often taken other option. Lack of voice is a common & often over-looked fault with rock music, but in the context of 1984 when his peers were more often than not aiming to imitate the high pitches of Plant, Daltrey, Osbourne & Halford, this must have seemed like something really exciting. Today, I might say he's similar to Glenn Danzig, albeit with more reverb & is truly scary. Yes, scary is the right word. Twisted Sister aimed for horror & blasphemy, expanding upon the legacy of Alice Cooper, but it was under a viel of costumed camp. Blackie also has the costume but without the camp or modesty. This is the real thing that Snider & co. never dared to really do. One of these bands became an MTV sensation, while the other continues to make relevant music two decades later & waving to it's once-upon-a-time competitor now on the nostalgia circuit. Hmm. 2) I've always seen Motorhead as being a leader in the style of driving riffs that sound like an engine revving or a bear gone mad, as it makes the listener feel pumped, wild & mad. Compared to the more technical show-offs the Satrianis & Vais of 1984, W.A.S.P. is not just an animal in name but in action. Was there headbanging before the W.A.S.P.s & Motorheads? Again, two of these bands/musicians have continued to be popular without changing their look much, while two of them are in comeback mode with new looks. Hmm. 3) The blues was Devil music while Elvis destroyed the morals of a generation with his hips, not to forget the bad boy image of the Rolling Stones & the fact that Led Zeppelin use an orgasm as the guitar/vocal call & response bridge in "Whole Lotta Love". Rock-n-roll has always been stereotyped as carnal music, exaggerating the animalistic sides of sex, violence, Satanism & narcissism. W.A.S.P. takes this all to the extreme with pride & abandon. Truth be told, W.A.S.P., like Motorhead, has a discography of basically one sound within a small window of variation. But, to hear it nearly fully matured on their debut you know you're hearing a great composer. W.A.S.P. is what rock-n-roll is meant to be. This is the natural progression from '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction'. How ironic that this was released on the same label that Megadeth would leave over a decade later feeling the label had no use for heavy metal in it's modern catalog.

W.A.S.P. ~ The Sting (live) (album review) ... The real metal!

Style: heavy metal, shock rock, live, 80's rock
Label: Snapper
Year: 2000
Home: Los Angeles

Members: Blackie Lawless ~ lead vocals/guitar
Chris Holmes ~ guitar
Mike Duda ~ bass/backing vocals
Stet Howland ~ drums

 

 

  W.A.S.P. is undeniably a band of the 80’s L.A. circuit in sound & style. Whatever music they create today or in the future, their reputation, like Lizzy Borden, will always be linked to the 80’s. But, that was such a powerful & revolutionary era for rock music that sometimes it’s good to pull a record out of the box, brush it off & crank up the volume & remember why that era was a great one. W.A.S.P. is a good band to brush off. This is W.A.S.P.’s record of the Helldorado tour, an album that got mixed reviews as many old fans didn’t like the new screaming vocal technique while headmaster Blackie himself didn't approve of the production quality of either the album or the also available DVD. Ironically, listening to The Sting years later one might consider this a live dish from any number of current bands now on the scene, showing Blackie's ahead of the times musical ingenuity & just how much this arena sound remains a coveted staple in rock … white the string of nearly pornographic song titles shows that this is not just another band. Eleven Lawless originals bookend a cover of The Who’s "The Real Me", an aptly chosen song for a singer that has always followed his own vision & vision regardless of mainstream success or lack of. If you haven’t listened to W.A.S.P. in a while may this CD inspire you to break out the air guitar & crank up the volume for some old-fashioned guts rocking! This tour also featured returning founding member/guitarist Chris Holmes, famous for floating drunk in a pool with mom onlooking in the legendary rock documentary The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years, who'd previously left the band to be with his then wife Lita Ford & would leave for good a year later.

(originally featured in the Roman Midnight Music newsletter: Issue 1, Summer 2009, expanded for blog Feb 2010)