Bad English ~ Bad English (aka debut) (album review) ... Crafting AOR is the name of the smile!

Style: pop rock, hard rock, AOR
Label: Epic
Year: 1989
Home: Los Angeles, California

Members: John Waite ~ lead vocals
Neal Schon ~ guitars/b. vocals
Jonathan Cain ~ keyboards/rhythm guitar/b. vocals
Ricky Phillips ~ bass/b. vocals
Deen Castronovo ~ drums/b. vocals

Bad English's self-titled debut opens with a soaring guitar that lets you know this is not going to be anything but top notch playing & of the same quality that folks have come to expect from the involved players. The players being a reunion of three members of the Babys, or more particularly the keyboardist of the recently disbanded Journey who had composed "Don't Stop Believin'"; his bandmate guitarist, whose resume also included Santana; the vocalist who had the number one solo hit "Missing You"; the bassist of the Babys, who would find more name recognition post-Bad English with Styx & Coverdale/Page; & finally the drummer of Jason Becker & Marty Friedman's Cacophony, who would go on to join the reunited Journey, Geezer Butler's GZR & appear on Ozzy Osbourne's Ozzmosis. Supergroup is a legit description for Bad English considering its past & future. The album would smash the Hot 100 charts with the number one hit "When I See You Smile", giving a legacy to Bad English that would last to this day. Its such a great song decades later its likely there's many listeners who don't know they've heard all the members in other outings. Yet, for all the skills of the players, this was not a hard rock fest or fist waver, but a collection of AOR ultra power ballads & some well crafted groin shaking hair metal. Crafting radio friendly songs is the name of the game. The melody out front. The guitars in the back, though when allowed to come forward they soar like a bird. The vocals don't try to break glass with impossible notes. The keyboards are a strong element. The rhythms get you moving & might best be experienced in the bedroom, not on the dance floor. In some ways, Bad English was typical of the era. The sound of this album can be heard elsewhere, from Firehouse's "Every Time I Look At You", & most of their debut album actually, to the Damn Yankees who upped the ante for a more bombastic approach. Yet, the songs also feel somewhat timeless, as good today as when they debuted. They don't make music like this anymore. Bad English did power ballads the way so many of us dearly miss. The songs hit fast & in the right place. They didn't break any molds & are full of musical & lyrical cliches, while this is no masterpiece, but it hits you in just the right place so you walk away feeling good. Of the 13 songs here, there's a couple that could be left off. "Ready When You Are" is absolute uncreative filler next to its brothers. "Best Of What I Got" has some cringy lines that could have been left on the cutting room floor saving this track. Robert Palmer came to mind listening to this, but not in a good way. "Like a locomotive burning down the track / you're my destination ... Put my key inside your door / feels so good. / When I come home at night gonna rock in the neighborhood" Neal Schon's guitar sorta saves the day, who really doesn't play anything bad on the album & is one of strengths making this worth a visit. "Heaven Is A 4 Letter Word" actually sounds so much like what Damn Yankees were trying to do that you're waiting for Uncle Ted to appear to send it over the top. He obviously doesn't, but its hard to say if that's a good or bad thing. Aside from those bumps there's "Price Of Love" which sounds so much like all the overly dramatic power ballads of the era, but its hard not to enjoy it just the same. "Forget Me Not" has ironically been forgotten, but is a standout due to its slow sly opening, sounding a bit like early Phil Collins era Genesis. The song rolls out with a lot of attitude over a hypnotic groove, though the lyrics almost feel like they're talking about stalking instead of romance. "Rockin' Horse" lives up to its name with a rollicking rhythm. "The Restless Ones" you'll immediately recognize, but is one of those songs you might have forgotten about. Just as good as "When I See You Smile". Speaking of which, if you don't start singing when "When I See You Smile" starts playing, please post in the comments below. I want to know what ails you.

Coverdale/Page ~ Coverdale/Page (aka debut) (album review) ... Un-led-ed blues that will kick your ass!

Style: blues-rock, hard rock
Label: Geffen
Year: 1993
Home: n/a

Members: David Coverdale ~ vocals/rhythm guitar
Jimmy Page ~ lead guitar/bass/harmonica/b. vocals
Denny Carmassi ~ drums
Lester Mendel ~ keyboards/percussion
Jorge Casas ~ bass

Additional: Ricky Phillips ~ bass
John Harris ~ harmonica
Tommy Funderburk, John Sambataro ~ b. vocals

When surviving Led Zeppelin titans Jimmy Page & Robert Plant reunited for their MTV unplugged concert Un-Led-ed: No Quarter it was an event few wanted to miss. It had everything & more. They followed it with Walking Into Clarksdale ... that had everything & less. I couldn't help but want to then turn to the C/P self-titled album, featuring the Deep Purple/Whitesnake singer who sings & looks far too similar to Plant, & thinking how this is the album I wanted to hear from Page/Plant. Though, ironically I'd bought Coverdale/Page when it was first released thinking it was a Page/Plant reunion. I'd seen the video for "Pride & Joy" & was mesmerized by the instrumentation & arrangement. I was just beginning to get into Led Zeppelin & hard rock. I knew that Page had guested on a Plant album & thought this was it, not knowing who look-alike Coverdale was, & went out & bought Plant's Now & Zen. My disappointment was overwhelming, & though Page is on the album it was nothing close to the acoustic/electric mix of "Pride & Joy". I had to wait for the video to come on again before discovering whose album I actually wanted to buy. Though I've since become a Whitesnake fan & love Jimmy Page's Outrider solo effort, even with all its flaws, I consider C/P a highlight of both their careers post-Zeppelin/Purple. It mixes the best of all worlds, with moody songs to hardcore blues to hard rock with great singing & playing along with basically well-crafted songs. A factor might be that this is the first effort, including Zeppelin, where Page was involved in the lyric writing which in-turn influenced his playing & approach to composing. Some critics said Page joined Coverdale because he couldn't get Plant so an imitator was the next best thing. While Coverdale/Page undoubtedly has strains of later era Zeppelin it's anything but an imitation nor sounds remotely close to Plant or Page's respective solo careers up to this time, nor even Coverdale's music & any eclipses any Zeppelin sounding bands on the scene such as Badlands or Bonham. There's no way to listen to anything Page does without comparison to Zeppelin but that was such an influential band it's better to not compare. There's only one winner in that equation. Heavy on the blues some of the ballads would be better if they didn't hit the 6 & 7 minute mark. But, the overall product is farther away from the commercial mainstream three minute rock that Coverdale had been writing since leaving Purple so there is great excitement hearing him try new avenues. He also favors a deep throaty call versus his recognizable tenor that is incredibly attractive & a highlight of many songs. When not wallowing in the blues the rest of the album is pure adrenalized hard rock with Page's most enthused & creative playing since Zeppelin. His riffs are layered but not cluttered as often plagues his work & partially caused Walking Into Clarksdale to not live up to expectations. The rhythm section is also top notch creating some heavy foundations courtesy of drummer Denny Carmassi, known for his work with Montrose with Sammy Hagar & Heart & would return to Coverdale's side later, & bassist Jorge Casas who provides a heavy low end with a couple songs even featuring a second bassist to provide extra punch. It grounds Page's playing in a way that had hurt both his Outrider & the Firm. Page's riffs & rhythms dominate the songs but he doesn't play anything that hasn't been heard before, his playing languishing with a timeless quality of little growth, often leaving the key to the success of many songs on Coverdale's vocals. Luckily, he's up to the challenge. C/P probably never was going to have life beyond a single album due to the requirements of Whitesnake & quirkiness of Page's career, I've always felt sad that the ensuing tour didn't do so well & the potential of anything more was firmly removed because this is a basically everything anyone could really ask for from a one-off unlikely union.