Under Fire - Under Fire [2001]

Country: USA

Year: 2001

Line-up: Moki Demarco (vocals), Cary Sharaf (guitar), Greg Wise (bass), Jim Waldo (keyboards), Steve Schwartz (drums)

TRACK LISTING

1. No More Heartaches

2. Crazy for Love

3. Heart in Pain

4. Rolling Down That Road

5. Love You One More Time

6. Hold Out

7. Burning Desire

8. Crossfire

9. Always on the Run

10. When You Feel Lonely

Requested by: Bidyut

Fletchanator's comment: This album, the sole recording by AOR band Under Fire, was recorded in 1988 and released many years later, as seems to be the craze these days (small labels finding obscure hard rock from 10-15 years ago and releasing it now). Featuring the keyboard work of Jim Waldo (from late 70s AOR band New England), Under Fire reminds me of some of Foreigner's 1980s stuff. One for the AOR/keyboard fans out there.

Download (NEW LINK NOV 2015)

Badlands - Badlands [1989]

Country: USA

Year: 1989

Line-up: Ray Gillen (vocals), Jake E Lee (guitar), Greg Chaisson (bass), Eric Singer (drums)

TRACK LISTING

1. High Wire

2. Dreams in the Dark

3. Jade's Song

4. Winter's Call

5. Dancing on the Edge

6. Streets Cry Freedom

7. Hard River

8. Rumblin' Train

9. Devil's Stomp

10. Seasons

11. Ball and Chain

Fletchanator's comment: Badlands were something of a supergroup, featuring future and past members of KISS (Singer), Black Sabbath (Gillen) and Ozzy Osbourne's band (Lee). Don't expect anything sounding like those bands though. On this, their first album, Badlands kick ass with a slice of blues-influenced hard rock, very reminiscent of Led Zeppelin with a hard rock twist. Sadly Gillen died in 1993 - he had a great voice. Jake E Lee is a fantastic guitarist, and Singer's solid on the skins. If you don't already have this one, trust me, you need it!

Download (NEW LINK NOV 2015)

Babylon AD - Babylon AD [1989]

Country: USA

Year: 1989

Line-up: Derek Davis (vocals), Ron Freschi (guitar), Danny DeLaRosa (guitar), Robb Reid (bass), Jamey Pacheco (drums)

TRACK LISTING

1. Bang Go the Bells

2. Hammer Swings Down

3. Caught in the Crossfire

4. Desperate

5. The Kid Goes Wild

6. Shot O' Love

7. Maryanne

8. Back in Babylon

9. Sweet Temptation

10. Sally Danced

Fletchanator's comment: Oakland, California's Babylon AD were another hair metal band that never got the recognition they deserved. This is their impressive debut, with some great rocking tunes (Bang Go the Bells, Hammer Swings Down, Shot O' Love) and an above-average ballad (Desperate). Derek Davis had one of those great gravelly voices, at times reminding me of Jeff Keith from Tesla. 

Download (NEW LINK NOV 2015)

Blue Tears - Blue Tears [1990]

Country: USA

Year: 1990

Line-up: Gregg Fulkerson (vocals), Bryan Hall (guitar), Mike Spears (bass), Charlie Lauderdale (drums)

TRACK LISTING

1. Rockin With the Radio

2. Crush

3. Blue Tears

4. Take This Heart

5. Halfway to Heaven

6. Innocent Kiss

7. Racing With The Moon

8. Kiss Me Goodbye

9. True Romance

10. Thunder in the Night

Requested by: Brent

Fletchanator's comment: Ah yes, Blue Tears. They definitely put out the best Bon Jovi albums that Bon Jovi didn't put out themselves. The singer doesn't just sound like JBJ, he sings in JBJ's style too. Heck, most of the songs are structured the same as Bon Jovi songs. If you can look past the obvious lack of originality though, Blue Tears are a great listen. 

Download (NEW LINK NOV 2015)

Vice - Made for Pleasure [1988]

Country: Germany

Year: 1988

Line-up: Jan Ghiantinic (vocals), Christian Limburg (guitar), Jorg Hargeschmier (guitar), Peter Juhve (bass), Fritz Randow (drums)

TRACK LISTING

1. Feel My Body

2. Last Day of War

3. Red Light Night

4. Trouble in Paradise

5. Bad Girl

6. Made for Pleasure

7. Running

8. Rocking All Over The World

9. Hot Summer Night Party

10. Boys Got The Fever

11. Sally

Requested by: Patrick S

Fletchanator's comment: Okay, the album cover is... lame. No doubt. But this album, the debut effort by German melodic rockers Vice is pretty good party rock. Catchy, full of gang vocals - you'll think these guys are from sunny California rather than Germany.

Download (NEW LINK NOV 2015)

Envy - Ain't It A Sin [1987]

Country: USA

Year: 1987

Line-up: Rhonni Stile (vocals), Gina Stile (guitar, vocals), Bill Spencer (bass), Danny Kapps (drums), Alan St John (keyboards)

TRACK LISTING

1. Ain't It a Sin

2. I Believe In You

3. Heartache

4. Lie Here Waiting

5. Wait on You

6. You're So Hot

7. All the Reasons

8. I See the Light

9. I'm Not Your Lover

10. Hurt Me

Fletchanator's comment: Envy was a hard rock band with a female lead singer which put out only one album. Upon listening, my first comparisons were Vixen and Heart, ironic  because I subsequently found out that guitarist Gina Stile joined Vixen in 1997 and in 2002 joined a Heart tribute band. If you like Vixen and Heart, you'll enjoy this.

Download (NEW LINK NOV 2015)

Catalyst - Paradise [1990]

Country: USA

Year: 1990

Line-up: Unknown

TRACK LISTING

1. Crackdown/Breakdown

2. Dropout Loser

3. I Wanna Live

4. Break My Heart Again

5. You Can't Please Everybody

6. Time

7. Fire in Her Eyes

8. Shelter of your Heart

9. Hold on to your Love

10. Paradise

11. Burning in the Fire

12. Trash Before you Crash

Fletchanator's comment: This is one of those rare occasions when I actually don't know much about the band. I got this album off the internet and can't even find a listing for the band members. All I know is this is Catalyst's only album. It's melodic hard rock, bordering on AOR for some songs, rockier on others. Nothing great, but listenable.

Download (NEW LINK NOV 2015)