Badlands - Badlands
|
Our Price: $49.78 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $13.79 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Badlands
Free Music Review: A great debut album!
Hit: 5 Stars
This album is a great mix of Led Zeppelin type hard rock with hair metal. After quitting Ozzy's band in 1987 after Ozzy's most succesful studio album The Ultimate Sin Jake formed a new band with former Black Sabbath singer Ray Gillen. How's the album?
1. High Wire- 10/10 This really sounds like a Led Zeppelin song execpt with a more modern sounding riff. The lyrics sound just like Zeppelin too. Jake's first solo is great but the crazy shredding in the second solo tops the first one. Ray Gillen hits a note that Robert Plant couldn't even hit!
2.Dreams in the Dark- 10/10 A more 80's sounding song. The lyrics are defintley more 80's and Jake's solo is great aswell. Ray Gillen continues to hit the high notes aswell.
3.Jade's Song- 10/10 A beautiful acoustic instrumental. It's very short but it's great and it seems to be an intro the next song
4.Winter's Call- 10/10 A great Zeppelin esque intro into another Zeppelin influenced song. Jake's solo is incredible as Jake shows he's every bit as good as the other virtuosos of the 80's. Zeppelin influenced lyrics once again.
5.Dancing On The Edge- 10/10 Another great Zeppelin influenced track with a solo from jake that is virtuostic and tasteful. Gillen's vocals continue to shine.
6.Streets Cry Freedom- 10/10 Ray Gillen uses a deeper voice while still hitting the high notes. This song is more of an 80's type song like Dreams In The Dark. A great bridge too as the song stops and than comes in louder and louder into a fast song. This is the first real Jimmy Page influenced solo but Jake is a cleaner player than Jimmy and once again Gillen hits a note that not even Robert Plant could octave.
7.Hard Driver- 10/10 Another 80's type song with some amazing fills from Jake. Some virtuoso guitar work during this solo as Jake continues to shred tastefully.
8.Rumblin' Train- 10/10 A good slow track. Although this might be a little too slow and quiet. Ray Gillen's vocals erupt from very quiet into some loud powerful yells. This song would be less than a 10 if not for Jake E. Lee's amazing solo which combines 80's shredding with old blues licks into one amazing minute and a half long solo.
9.Devil's Stomp- 10/10 Another great song with an awesome riff and more great vocals. Some more great guitar work from Jake E. Lee too
10.Seasons- 10/10 A great "power" ballad with some great soulful singing from Ray Gillen. Jake E. Lee's solo is very soulful aswell
This is a great album. If you like Zeppelin, Jake E. Lee or just 70's rock or 80's metal or just good music than get this!
Jake E. Lee- Guitar, Keyboards
Ray Gillen- Vocals, Blues Harp
Greg Chaisson- Bass
Eric Singer- Drums
Free Music Review: An Original Owner
Hit: 5 Stars
I decided to review this CD, not becasue I purchased it here, but because I was shocked at what I found when searching for this title. From 1987-1993, I was in the US Navy and had money to burn. Being a fan of Heavy Metal and just starting to enjoy the new CD technology after years of buying records (vinyl), I was not only buying bands that were old favorites, but also checking out anything new I could find and enjoyed "finding" new bands by association (like the 6 degrees of seperation). What I mean is this. If I liked Montrose for instance, I found out what albums Ronnie Montrose was featured on before his Montrose career and what he released afterwards (Gamma for example). I would discover some pretty neat acts this way.
Not sure now why I bought Badlands in the first place. I can't remember now, but I did and loved it. It was probably the Ozzy connection I suppose. This album was on fire from start to finish! I could not wait for Voodoo Highway to come out and had it within days of release, if not the day it was released! I even picked up the Japanese versions while overseas in 1991, even though I had the domestic versions. I also purchsed a Japanese single from one of the albums, a little 2-3" single sized disc the likes I had not seen domestically.
I left the Navy in 1993 and the money was not quite there anymore and although I continued to buy CDs here and there, it was nothing like before. Fast forward to last year and I was browsing Amazon to find a replacement for my XYZ "Hungry" CD (Which I also bought new, but had a skip). I was in shock when I saw the prices! I knew that this music had a following, but it was always on the wrong side of popular and maybe that is why these CDs are so expensive now. Only the true fans bought the albums and the rest went into the CD black hole until now!
I didn't even realize that Dusk had been released, having slipped away from the scene. I am still hoping that I can pick up that album sometime in the near future w/o selling my soul to afford it. I assume it rocks like the others, but I have never heard a beat from it.
I guess my point is...both Badlands and Voodoo Highway rock. I have owned them since they were new and if you want a treat, pick up both of these albums if you can afford to do so.
Free Music Review: A MUST HAVE!!!
Hit: 5 Stars
I have this record on analog cassette and still listen to it constantly. Badlands were the finest American hard rock band of the 80's. Their only misstep was that this record was released about 2 years too late (hardly their fault). By the time "Voodoo Highway" (their second record) was released the fickle music buying public had already moved on to Nirvana and such. They just don't make music like this anymore.
Ray Gillen was the finest White Blues vocalist ever-period! His range, power, and emotional intensity were truly head and shoulders above all of the rest. Sadly Ray never became a household name as he died much too young.
Jake E. Lee (ex Ratt, Ruff Cutt, Dio, Ozzy Osbourne) traded in his Heavy Metal guitar gymnastics for fiery, impassioned, soulful Blues Rock riffing and (more importantly) song writing skills. His tone is more straight-up and less processed (as it is on all 3 Badlands recordings) and his playing is pure and authentic. No guitar playing for guitar playing's sake. It's all about the song here.
"Badlands" kicks right off with "High Wire" and goes all the way through to "Ball & Chain" with no filler material. Just great Bluesy, 70's influenced Hard Rock songs ala Bad Company, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, etc. with a brilliantly sad ballad in "Seasons" as well as a pretty little acoustic guitar instrumental in "Jade's Song". It is just dead WRONG to lump Badlands in with the Heavy Metal camp. It does a great injustice to their songwriting abilities.
If you like your Rock & Roll Bluesy, hard-hitting, melodic, soulful, impassioned, and fun-this record is a must have!!
Free Music Review: One of those lost gems...
Hit: 5 Stars
This album is British hard rock at its best. Ray Gillen shines on vocals, with his wide range and his emotional and powerful voice that makes you wonder why he was never so known as Dio, David Coverdale and the likes. Shame that he's no longer among us! (R.I.P., Ray! -- "Rock In Peace, Ray", I meant ;-))
Jake E. Lee also does an amazing job in the rhythm and lead guitar here. The guy rocks hard with his dry tone and aggressive phrasing. He sounds very raw, hitting you straight on your face, ripping off everything around him when it's time to spit a flashy solo out, while heavily riffing almost all the remaining time. This is beautifully rough! But at the same time Jake is able to perform semi-acoustic parts in themes such as "Jade's Song" and "Winter's Call", in where he plays with extreme sensibility and tenderness too.
Overall, this is a mid-paced bluesy hard rock release, with evident influences from Led Zeppelin, early Whitesnake and some other British hard rock bands. These songs are also catchy and are played with a deep feeling and attitude -- although they are not breaking any ground, to be sincere.
In one sentence: a great album with amazing vocals and superb guitars. A lost gem that deserves at least four stars -- or even five stars for the fans of the genre! Highly recommended!
Free Music Review: Led Zeppelin With Balls
Hit: 5 Stars
I remember listening to this one until I had worn the cassette tape out back in the late '80's; it has since become out-of-print on unavailable, so I was ecstatic when I was finally able to round up a copy. Quite often when you listen to an album you used to love "back in the day", you end up somewhat disappointed; but I am happy to report that this album has certainly withstood the test of time. Badlands display a gritty, blues-rock style which obviously owes a lot to Led Zeppelin....the singer, Ray Gillen, in particular is very reminiscent of Robert Plant. Although his vocals are excellent, (some of the best hard-rock vocals ever, actually) what really gets me with this band is the guitar playing. Killer tone, jaw-dropping bluesy solos, and a heavy, modern edge. Former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Jake E. Lee is the driving force behind this band, throwing down snaky, incendiary blues/hard rock licks and riffs that sound like Zeppelin, only with fewer folk elements and more balls. These guys should have been big-great singer, awesome guitar player, and excellent songwriting, but unfortunately grunge hit and killed this style of music. One of the best rock albums ever written, and worth looking up.