After leaving Ozzy Osbourne circa 1988, guitarist Jake E. Lee recruited Black Sabbath alums Ray Gillen (RIP) and Eric Singer (later in KISS), on vocals and drums, respectively. Greg Chaisson rounded things out on bass. Badlands are fanatically loved by their fans and it is easy to see why. If you love soulful hard rock with a Southern flavor, Badlands will be your huckleberry. I would liken their sound to Led Zeppelin, Whitesnake, and Kingdom Come.
The band showcases their musicianship with lots of jams and fretboard gymnastics; there is not a lot of development of commercial hooks and melodies. In fact, this is presumably a major factor in their breakup during the making of the follow up record, "Voodoo Highway" when record execs wanted to bring in AOR songwriters like Desmond Child.
So there is not much here for those patriotic to catchy tunes and memorable melodies. But the musicianship and vocals are quite amazing throughout. A highlight for me is the more accessible and very Whitesnake sounding "Dreams in the Dark" and the epic "Winter's Call".
iPOD-worthy: 2, 4
PS: The CD is rather rare and hard to find...going for $30 used on Amazon today. Check now.
Check out the video for "Winter's Call"
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