2026 Classic Rock / AOR Journal Vol. 2

Rage - Run For The Night. 1983 Carrere (LP). Yet another one of those UK bands that used to fill up the stacks of the heavy metal bins in the early 80s, and yet were no such thing. They had the right moniker, and came around at the perfect time to cash in on the burgeoning NWOBHM movement. But they took the easy route, presuming their brand of juiced up AOR would attract the same audience that Journey and REO Speedwagon did. Bad move. Even the coked-up American label execs could smell this fraudulent attempt. So they took a pass, and the album was released everywhere else but here. You would think that if a band decides to make radio hits, they'd actually make an effort at decent songwriting. Love these type of 80s hyper sexed album covers, which made total sense to all of us back then, and now are looked at with disdain (now if it was a guy in heels, well then, that's OK). Unfortunately that's the highlight of the release. (6/1)

City Boy - The Day The Earth Caught Fire. 1979 Atlantic (LP). I remember recording this off the radio and came pretty close to buying the LP real time. In 1979 I was very much into this kind of proggy AOR, as noted on this blog many times. Bands like Styx, Alan Parsons Project, and Sweet were still front and center for me. City Boy fits rights into that model. In fact, the excellent title track, which I loved back then too, recalls ELO at their very best. A3 and B1 demonstrates the guitar crunch that is present while mixing in some sophisticated piano. B2 could be considered hard rock and I think City Boy would have been successful in that market as well. A2 and A4 can be skipped over as obvious pop slop attempts. A5 reminds me of Queen and is only tolerable. This all leads to B3, which clocks in at an incredible 12:36, released in an era when that was unheard of for a major label, especially for a band looking for a hit record. This opus, appropriately titled 'Ambition', has the same kind of vibe that Supertramp brought on Breakfast For America, though much more stretched out. I also think City Boy may have heard a little bit of Camel while they were at it. This album is razor thin close to finding room in the collection, just due to the nostalgia and the oddness of the time and place. But there just isn't any track here that I'd insist on hearing a few more times, so I'll let it fly. Too bad it's not worth anything. (5/24)

Shooting Star - Silent Scream. 1985 Geffen (LP). Shooting Star were an interesting classic rock band from the Kansas City area. Their 1980 debut certainly borrowed from megastars Kansas, mostly with radio hits in mind. But the album's closer 'Last Chance' is an absolute banger, and proves they were proggers at heart, just like their leaders. We'll never know for sure, because the 80s were upon us, and the band made just enough of a commercial mark to keep going with their Journey and REO Speedwagon inspired AOR music. I honestly didn't expect to listen to this album in full. The new arrivals box is crammed as it is, not to mention two full boxes of the prog rock collection I obtained earlier in the year, that I still need to get to. So I've just been scanning albums such as this before putting these in the record show boxes. But I heard enough here to keep listening and will append a rating. Of course I won't keep it. I like that the violin is still hanging in there, definitely not an instrument likely to improve their chances for radio exposure. The second side adds more energy which I preferred. Incidentally I found a sealed copy of Shooting Star (1980) last weekend. Feel like keeping it. (4/18)

2026 Metal Journal Vol. 2

Warrior - Fighting For the Earth. 1985 MCA (LP). I've had this one sitting in the listening box for well over a year now. For some reason I thought this was one of those late 70s hard rock / AOR albums (like TKO) that labels like MCA would put out to an audience of 10. The cover looks more like an arena band logo. But it's clear from the beginning this is heavy metal. Strange I'd never heard of it before. But then again, 1985 is waaay late to the party for this kind of straight up metal. Seeing reviews comparing them to Malice, though the latter is supposedly better. To me they both are standard issue for the era. This is the sound of Judas Priest circa 1980-1983. Which is the problem. The metal world had moved on significantly by this time. Had this come out while I was still in early high school (say, 1981) then I could see this hitting a chord with me back then. Nice listen for certain, though nothing here to earn shelf space. (6/1)

Cellador - Enter Deception. 2006 Metal Blade (CD). OK I'm making a determined effort to go through my inventory, especially these 2016 CD buys. Anything that reads interesting, or on a sample sounds interesting, then I put the listen off for another day. Cellador, though from Omaha, Nebraska, was labeled as Euro Power Metal. This could be a quick exit. I can see why they appended the tag, but I found the album much more interesting than that may imply. The music is fast - very fast in fact - and mostly resembles Helloween in nitro mode. The vocalist does a reasonable Bruce Dickinson emulation. Not hearing those annoying choruses that bug me about Euro Power Metal. The biggest issue here is all the songs pretty much sound the same. Not in a boring sense, but the style meter goes from alpha to beta and that's about it. I hadn't initially intended to hear the whole thing, but I found something to do while it played in the background. Nodding my head throughout. Good stuff, but no, not keeping it. (2/26) 

6/1 update: I sort of gave up on some of these albums like the above. The same sound time after time. After sampling, I started moving these out without a rating or writeup. I know there are some gems in these stacks, and I plan on mining them out. But the rest is "waste rock" for me.

Warlung - Optical Delusions. 2020 Heavy Psych Sounds (LP). Warlung are from Houston, Texas, and are decidedly a stoner rock band, though much more rooted in the 70s than the 90s. The riffs are from the Sabbath school and the guitar solos more towards the mid 70s style. Vocals have a slight Ozzy tinge and are pleasant to the ear. Warlung doesn't take any chances here, staying in the pocket throughout. Only a few years ago, I would most certainly have kept this LP (great cover), but gotta let go sometimes. Good one for fans of 70s heavy rock though. (2/24)