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.

Vinnie Vincent Invasion ~ Vinnie Vincent Invasion (aka self-titled) (album review) ... Whammy bars in orbit!

Style: hard rock, glam metal
Label: Chrysalis
Year: 1986
Home: n/a

Members: Robert Fleischman ~ vocals
Vinnie Vincent ~ guitar/b. vocals
Dana Strum ~ bass/b. vocals
Bobby Rock ~ drums

 

I like Vinnie's work with Kiss. I missed Ace, but Vinnie was good for the direction they were going & brought a new musical side to the group. I've reviewed the second VVI album with Mark Slaughter on vocals. I was both impressed & turned off, often simultaneously. I found Slaughter's vocals amazing & often distracting. I found the music largely wannabe Led Zeppelin more often than not. I thought Vinnie shined when he was being himself & not imitating some one else. On the whole, it was interesting, but not something I want to return to. It was also often cluttered in an attempt to fill up every inch of air in the room. I've long been a promoter of letting music breath. Yeach, Phil Spector & me wouldn't get along. Yet, due to Kiss, Vinnie is still a fascinating guitarist in my head, but VVI's album just wasn't the right musical template for him to shine in. I think he should have done something like Steve Vai's solo work, though Vai hadn't quite braved those waters yet to show it could be done. Going backwards in time, how does the first VVI album sound? Instead of Slaughter, Robert Fleischman is the vocalist. His claim to fame is as Journey's vocalist for a few months in 1977, but is not on any studio albums. He co-write three songs, which is three more than Slaughter. Everything else is by Vinnie. First, thankfully, no Led Zep. Obviously that was their attempt to switch things up. Yet ... the vocals. I had no clue what Fleischman sounded like, but I was hoping for a complete contrast, like Phil Collins to Ray Wilson in Genesis. Instead, Fleischman & Slaughter sound like brothers. Perhaps they grabbed Slaughter as he could sing songs from this album in addition to the new stuff, or just saw his talent was too much to not tap into? Fleischman is a good singer, going from operatic highs to even higher highs, while Slaughter kept that & took things to greater heights, though at times to cluttered absurd heights. The problem I have with singers like this who sing so high they're going into orbit is, it often feels they are at the top of their range with no real place to go. Imagine a guitar solo that never moves below the 12th fret or is all above the 20th fret. After awhile my ears just want more range, more variety, more low end, more of anything. Putting the vocals aside, there's one thing I like about this album & three things I don't. The one thing I like is Vinnie turns in some super hot awesomely unique solos, absolutely out of this world. Wild & gnarly like only the '80's could do. They don't make solos like this anymore. Give me all the solos ... & all the bacon. Dump the rest ... nobody needs turkey bacon. Seriously, dump all the rest. That's the first problem. The songs are limp. Nothing is memorable or distinct. By the end of the album they just all melt together as a long drag that never seems to end. Ironically, though imitative, the second album thus becomes the stronger album. The second problem is Vinnie loves his whammy bar & finger tapping, which he does like a Greek God come to earth who has no limitations, but on every song & every solo it makes the whole album quickly feel predictable & monochromatic. Is that all you've got? Can you groove? Can you swing a blues wail? Can you slow down? While finger tapping has no real emotional feeling, as its sparks & fireworks, but no depth. This leads to my final problem with the album. Whatever the song is, whether bluesy power ballad or straight ahead keyboard heavy '80's rock, Vinnie turns in whammy solos & finger tapping moving as fast along the fretboard as possible. Essentially, one solo that is just used for every song whatever the mood. This makes for a huge disconnect between solos & songs. The outcome is something that would make Nigel Tufnel proud. The fact that "Animal" actually stops for the solo just pushes everything over the edge of absurdity. Then the album ends on a feedback loop if the absurdity hadn't already landed home. Going back to the second album, its interesting I said Slaughter ruined those songs by being so over the top. Here Vinnie ruins his own album by being over the top with crash & burn solos. He obviously learned a lesson & scaled back for the second album, but he turned the reigns over to Slaughter to just do the same thing. Replacing bad with bad. Again, if this was something like Steve Vai or Joe Satriani, then it would work, but otherwise its just a strange animal that doesn't know what it wants to be or where its going. I'd like to redo the album & remove most of the vocals. Sorta like what Jimmy Page did on Outrider, half singing & half instrumental. That's the first fix. Then rope in Vinnie to have some melody, focus & groove. Plus, bring in other writers. I really feel Vinnie shined with Kiss because he wasn't writing/composing. I would also come up with more interesting lyrics than just sex crap. Lyrics like Dio, stuff as big as the solos. I would also up the ante with the rest of the band, so the guitar bounces off of them & weaves around them. This could then be one of the greatest albums for air guitar players ever. Could be. Right now it has moments of potential, moments of six string awe & moments of severe cringe.

Journey ~ The Essential Journey (hits comp) (album review) ... A journey not to be forgotten!

Style: greatest hits, pop rock, hard rock
Label: Columbia
Year: 2001
Home: California

Members: Neal Schon ~ lead guitar/keyboard/guitar synth/vocals
Steve Perry ~ lead vocals
Gregg Rolie ~ lead vocals/keyboards/harmonica
Jonathan Cain ~ keyboards/rhythm guitar/b. vocals
Aynsley Dunbar, Steve Smith, Larrie Londin ~ drums
Ross Valory, Randy Jackson ~ bass/b. vocals
Bob Glaub ~ bass

Additional: Stevie Roseman ~ keyboards
Paulinho Da Costa, Steve Minkins ~ percussion

Journey is one of those bands folks like to make fun of, alongside Foreigner, Boston, The Doobie Brothers & numerous other radio friendly bands that came out of the 70's perfectly made for mass market consumerism, light on anything too experimental & heavy on sing-along love songs. The fact that Journey later featured the former power metal singer, Jeff Scott Soto, of Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force, only to unceremoniously replace him with a tribute band singer didn't help the joke. The fact that the ensuing studio recordings with the later are some of the best music Journey has made in decades shows who is laughing last. Though, I feel sorry for JSS as he never got a chance to drop his mark with the band in the studio. He's a good guy & under-appreciated singer working hard & getting some new recognition with Trans-Siberian Orchestra & his group W.E.T., at least he got to contribute to the Journey biography. But, there's a reason joke bands like Journey have remained on the charts churning out memorable song after song (for example, "Wheel In The Sky", "Any Way You Want It", "Don't Stop Believin", "Who's Crying Now", "Lights", "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)", "Faith In The Heartland", "Open Arms" & "I'll Be Alright Without You"). For whatever their radio friendly sheen the music is pretty much perfect. It's got everything mainstream music needs. Great singers & musicians, recognizable memorable songs & lyrics, variable catchy arrangements & most importantly we can all sing-along with abandon. It doesn't get too heavy or too experimental. It's safe. Elvis Presley was safe. The Beatles started as safe. With a shot of creativity safe is not a four letter word. The producers of TV's 'The Sopranos' probably weren't treating Journey as a joke when they decided to end the series with "Don't Stop Believin'" playing over a blank screen ... having already shown great taste in music throughout the season's ending credits including other songs from Journey. This 2 CD journey that arrived in time for their 30th anniversary features thirty-two tracks from the Steve Perry years, 1978-1996. It's not comprehensive & doesn't give any time to the albums before or after Perry but, honestly, all the recognizable hits came out of when Perry was frontman ... sorry Soto, George Tickner, Prairie Prince, Robert Fleischman, Steve Augeri, Arnel Pineda & Deen Castronovo. Though before him the band was more progressive & only had a few albums while after him the way the music industry & charting works changed. This album won't teach you about all the musical changes Journey went through on their journey, but if you want the hits & all of them this is this is the place to go. There's other greatest hits collections but this tops the batch. The first CD is all the greatest hits while the second one is more fan-favorites. There's a few duds in the batch, though duds is just a jerk-knee way of saying songs that are a little less memorable & a bit imitative. Yes, leaning heavily on love songs seemingly forsaking any other topic does produce a number of cliched duds ... let's be honest. 80's hair metal showed how limiting it can be. But, remove those few & there's still an album plus of music left that will delight the ears. Further, there's so many great songs this collection might inspire one to check out the full studio albums & the excluded years. I was shocked by how many songs were familiar that I grew up hearing on the radio & forgot were part of the Journey catalog. I don't even know if I knew they were all Journey. When I hear all the hits I suddenly realize what makes this band so great & more than a joke. Check it out & see what I mean. Once you hear the music you'll realize why I hold back in going into detail on exactly why they aren't a joke. The music speaks for itself. For those curious it songs are culled from the Vision Quest & Two Of A Kind soundtracks, plus the albums Escape, Infinity, Frontiers, Departure, Evolution, Captured, Raised On Radio & Trial By Fire. Only the Dream After Dream soundtrack is missing if one wants to be technical about the Perry studio output.