Ahhh, the late 80’s…  if you turned on MTV you saw a lotta hair, a lotta glam, a lotta pouty faces, and frankly, a lotta crap.  Power ballads were di rigueur and hard rock and heavy metal was the music of the day.  Fortunately, my tastes were leaning more thrash metal at this time but there was still some music in the rock vein that was bending my ear that was way cool (junior), with a lotta balls ‘n crunch.  One shakeup in the music world was led by Guns N Roses, leading the charge with their own brand of Aerosmith bravado meets the Stones wallop and swagger.  Shortly thereafter came Jane’s Addiction, mixing a depth of a different color by via a swirling mountain of alternative vibe and heady classic rock.  Some bands followed suit and added more color to their palette while others churned out a heavier tune.  Rock/metal was adopting different flavors into the early 90’s, offering up a slew of new and exciting bands in the pre-grunge days.  Here are three examples in Part 1 of this episode of Under The Radar.

Hailing from New York City, Spread Eagle came stomping out of the gate in 1990 with their debut self titled disc in the mold of early Aerosmith, Motley Crue, and classic Van Halen, even outpunking Appetite era Guns N Roses.  Sporting a ready made guitar hero in Paul DiBartolo, songs like “Scratch Like A Cat”, “Broken City”, and “Back On The Bitch” swing with mighty riff and tasty guitar work, offering up swinging and sweeping leadwork a la Eddie Van Halen.  In the vocal department, Ray West somewhat resembles a bluesier Axl Rose but belting, singing, and screaming in an even more convincing fashion.  Lyrically though a bit juvenile in spots with songs like “Hot Sex” and “Spread Eagle” not winning any literary prizes, certainly the weakest part of the disc.  Production is hot and nasty, with decent bottom end and certainly more of an unproduced, live feel overall.  Both the self titled and second album Open To The Public are hard to track down but are well worth seeking out if you can find them, although I prefer the self titled’s looser production moreso than the smoother second disc.

Yeah, two NYC bands in a row….  first thing I picked up out of this disc was how in your face the production was-  everything seems to be pushed into the red and LOUD:  guitar, drum, bass, and vocal, right up front and immediately grabbing your attention.  Collision was a very solid power trio that only put out two discs, the self titled and Coarse in the mid-nineties.  Each song on the self titled (my favorite) settles into a mid-paced swinging groove, nothing too fast, nothing too slow, just serious riffs, solid bass, outstanding vocals, and massive, kicking Bonham-esque drums.  This disc was definitely an oddball of the time and didn’t really fit, sounding like something straight outta the 70s a la Grand Funk Railroad (who they cover with “Creepin'”).  It’s like these guys just showed up in the studio, flipped the switch, and cut everything live.  Check out “Who Do You Love”, “True Love”, “Juicy Lucy”, and the downright funky and thumpin’ swing of “Things”.  Coarse is a mighty fine disc too, not as loose as this one but a bit darker and spacier in tone and vibe overall.

Last band of the week released only ONE record but featured a couple of heavyweight players in the highly underrated John Corabi (soon to be of Motley Crue) and six stringer extraordinaire Bruce Bouillet, fresh outta the recently (semi)retired Racer X.  A bit reminiscent of Steven Tyler in the vocal department, especially as many of these songs have a feel similar to vintage Aerosmith.  However, Crab’s whiskey soaked vocals feel more in the pocket on the bluesy swing of “Never Loved Her Anyway” and Zep-esque “Man In The Moon”, kicking into an even higher gear with the monstrous “Tell Me Why”, “I Don’t Care”, and “Outlaw”.  As for Bouillet… this disc is far removed from the guitar pyrotechnics of his previous band, offering up a more song oriented approach but plenty of space for tasty guitar work throughout each song.  Unfortunately, the Crue came a’ callin’ and Corabi left to record the much maligned Motley Crue record as Vince Neil’s replacement (a shame as it is a great record).  Good luck finding this record but it is WELL worth your money!