Wildside – Under the Influence (Release Year – 1992)
One of the discs that I still play from time to time is the glam metal release by Wildside, called Under the Influence.
If Under the Influence was released five years earlier, Wildside would have been a household name. Armed with a sound that was a mixture between RATT and Cinderella, they had the sound, and the look to make it big. Sadly, this disc was released right at the time that the music scene was going through the change to Grunge, and the disc did not gain the success is deserved.
The CD was produced by Andy Johns (Cinderella, Van Halen, L.A. Guns), and even had a little writing help by Paul Stanley on the track Clock Strikes.
I picked this disc up after hearing a few cuts on he syndicated hard rock station Z-Rock. This disc has remained in my play list ever since.
In 2007, Under the Influence is becoming increasingly harder to find, and averages between 20 – 30 dollars on Ebay. It is a disc worth seeking out, if you missed it the first time around.
The band put out a second release in 1995, that was a change in sound (more grunge, than glam) that completely bombed, and the band broke up. In 2004, another disc, The Wasted Years surfaced that contained some demos and live cuts, as well as Wildside’s version of the G ‘N R song Crash Diet.
The released Under the Influence is the best release by the band, and is the release most people are still looking for.
My favorite cuts off of this disc are, Hang on Lucy, Just Another Night, Hair of the Dog, and Clock Strikes.
You can hear some of the tunes off of the Under the Influence at a fan made Wildside page on myspace. Buy this disc if you can find it. You won’t be disappointed!
Rating: 
Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Hang On Lucy
2. So Far Away
3. Monkey See Monkey Do
4. Just Another Night
5. Looks Like Love
6. Lad In Sin
7. Drunkin’ Man’s Blues
8. How Many Lies
9. Hair Of The Dog
10. Heart-N-Soul
11. Kiss This Love Goodbye
12. Clock Strikes
Wildside is:
Drew Hannah – Lead vocals
Brent Wood – Lead, rhythm, and acoustic guitars, backing vocals
Benny Rhynedance – Rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Marc Simon – Bass, backing vocals
Jimmy D. – Drums
Outloud! -S/T
Stryper - Murder By Pride
I have my own copy of that too. I am then wondering why this group doe not gain their success even that their song is very good enough. Maybe they are not lucky enough to known as heavy metalist.
I was interested in this one, but it just goes for too much on ebay and unfortunately it was after vinyl so I can’t even get a cheaper copy that way.
Mark,
I recommend setting a search for it on Ebay. On occasion, you can still grab one for the cost of a new CD.
Check out isohunt.com and do a search for wildside. Surely if the record company’s are not making it anymore they cant get mad if we keep it alive as a torrent.
UTI was a great CD. Everyone always says that had they come out in 1988 they would have been huge. I tend to agree. Capitol Records wasn’t the greatest label to promote hard rock back in the day, and the grunge changeover surely didn’t help. Inside word is that the WildSide UTI has been sonically remastered and will be rereleased on Capitol in 2008. That sure would be great. There is a cool MySpace page for these guys : myspace.com/wildside fans
[...] you are one of the many who have tried to secure a copy of Wildside’s debut release, Under the Influence, I have a little bit of good news for [...]
The Essential Wildside?! « www.hardrockhideout.com said this on August 18, 2008 at 2:07 pm |
I have this disk and also the “Hang On Lucy” cd single I think I payed like 3$ for UTI and 1.50$ for the single. They should have been bigger than they actually were.