This killer line up and band were formed in ’88 after Jake E Lee’s removal from Ozzy’s band. He teamed up with ex-Sabbath vocalist Ray Gillan, Eric Singer on drums, and Greg Chaisson on bass. The band recorded three albums of which this is the first, and one was released after Gillan’s untimely death in ’93 from AIDS. This band should have been huge as everything was there: great songs, great band, and a killer front man in the vein of Robert Plant. Critics said at the time that Zeppelin was the blueprint for the band, and part of me agrees with this but I think this album rocks harder than any Zeppelin album.
From the opening riff of High Wire, this album rocks your face off. Killer playing from all involved. If you want to hear Gillen out-Plant Mr. Plant then check out Winters Call, what a smoking track. Everything is awesome and then some on this tune. A more straight ahead rock track is Dancing On The Edge with a cool riff and solo, but once again, the vocal is full on rock god in its execution. Epic stuff!!!
A great drum intro and face melting riff to Hard Driver is a great opening to Side 2 and pounds along nicely. Rumbling Train is a slow blues with a different low range vocal from Gillen, showing that he could sing the phone book and would still sound killer. The production on this track is top notch – everything is in your face and crystal clear. Devils Stomp could have been on Zep 4, until the riff kicks in and it’s pure Peter Green on steroids. There were rumours at the time that Mrs. O was putting up roadblocks for the band, and it wasn’t long after the release of the second album, Voodoo Highway, that Jake disappeared from the scene for a very long time.
9.5/10 from The Grooveman.
