1989 was a massive year for all shades of melodic rock.
It was the year that key albums by many of the genre's high profile bands were released - Treat, FM,
Danger Danger, Strangeways, Tesla, Diving For Pearls, Icon, Bonfire, TNT, Blue Murder and many, many others. Including 'Bleach', from a new band, called Nirvana.
It was also the year that
Bang Tango's debut,
'Psycho Café' was released.
This band was different. A bunch of musicians who were influenced as much by James Brown as they were by seventies' Glam and the eighties' upsurge in melodic rock.
Still something of an unsung classic,
'Psycho Café's melting pot of soul, funk and rock was acclaimed by critics and discerning fans, and is deserving of exposure to a new generation of rock fans.
For the uninitiated, It's one, huge fajita of G'n'R and Aerosmith, spilling over with Red Hot Chilli Peppers. The content is sometimes overpowering, dazzling your taste buds, but it's got the roar of a jet engine.
These were the MTV Years, but no video is needed to emphasise '
Wrap My Wing's steely spine and fluid groove or to underline the fabulous hook to the relatively stripped down, rhythm heavy anthem, '
Breaking Up A Heart Of Stone'.
Vocal marvel Joe Leste has the same multi-octave primal howl as that other underrated genre frontman, Tom (
Cinderella) Keifer. It's a voice made for the dark strum and swirl of the largely unadorned '
Just For You', arguably the album's standout track, despite
'Someone Like You' being the one that Headbanger's Ball took a liking to.
'Psycho Café' didn't sell well. Ironically it was more of a breakthrough album for fledgling producer, Howard Benson, than it was for the band.
More money was spent on follow up,
'Dancin On Coals' (1991). Renowned producer, John Jansen was brought in and he beefed up the band's sound, putting more emphasis on the funk, adding horns and strings in places.
It is this album that catches the band at their artistic peak, though perhaps not uniformly.
Opener,
'Soul To Soul' is an audacious, risk taking tour de force. A huge rock/funk groove that spins on punchy horns, sharp edged guitars and a piercing hook.
Vying for the album standout spot,
'United And True' strips away the funk and shows us that hair rock need not be insubstantial, with producer and band revealing melodic music of power and daring.
None of the remaining tracks stick to any template except one. That works with the raucous rhythm and strings' mix of
'Emotion In Gear', and with the relatively streamlined, punky, '
Dressed Up Vamp', loosely wrapped up in wailing axework and pulsing basslines.
The exception is
'Midnight Struck'. Jansen takes a leaf out his
Cinderella /
Heartbreak Station production, giving us this big juicy slice of bluesy, gospel balladry.
Leste's vocals are simply superb.
This reissue comes with 2 bonus tracks, both live cuts. A fabulous, heavy rock version of Bolan's
'20th Century Boy' and
'Futurama', an okay song previously only available as a bonus track on the Japanese release, with Leste doing his best Ian Hunter impression.
Make no mistake,
Bang Tango are hugely underrated. A melodic rock band who dared to be different.
Especially in this limited edition version, with these bonus tracks, true lovers of the era and the genre simply have to own this album.
Written by
Brian Saturday, February 26, 2011
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