Tag: Davy Vain
4 VAIN – Enough Rope (2011)
VAIN fans have a new reason to be excited in 2011!! Davy Vain and company are back with a brand new hard rockin’ album, Enough Rope. Fans of the No Respect era of VAIN are definitely going to enjoy the band’s latest effort.
First and foremost, Davy Vain sounds exactly the same as he did back on the band’s ’89 debut. I always thought he had one of the more unique voices of the late 80’s, and he sounds incredible on Enough Rope. Not only does Davy sound great, but the whole band is in fine form. VAIN has put together another great album. This is easily VAIN’s most rockin’ release since No Respect.
The songs “Triple X”, “Cindy”, “Solid Gold” and the title track “Enough Rope” are easily as good as anything VAIN has ever recorded. “Greener” is a pretty good song to start the album off with. You can almost hear the smoke coming off of the instruments on “Triple X”. This up tempo rocker is going to be a favorite of mine for a long long time. There isn’t a bad song to be found on Enough Rope, and the majority of the songs are quite deserving of radio airplay.
I loved the long-delayed, All Those Strangers which received an official release last year I believe Enough Rope is even better than that disc, and amongst the best songs VAIN has ever recorded.
Enough Rope will be released on October 28th in Europe. Hopefully, a record label will be smart enough to give this CD a proper U.S. release. You won’t want to miss out on “Enough Rope”!
Rating: 
Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Greener
2. Triple X
3. Hot Stage Lights
4. Stray Kitten Burns
5. Cindy
6. Treasure Girl
7. Enough Rope
8. Solid Gold
9. Distance of Love
10. Vain
11. Worship You
Vain is:
Davy Vain – Vocals, Guitars
Jamie Scott – Guitars
Ashley Mitchell – Bass
Tommy Rickard – Drums
Danny West – Guitars
Additional Musicians:
Louie Senor – Drums
Fraser Lunney – Bass
1 Vain – All Those Strangers (2010)
Glam fans rejoice! One of the better hair metal bands of the 80s (although they weren’t as well known as the big names) has released the follow up to their exceptional debut CD some 20 years later, All Those Strangers. This album is everything that a growing (or well seasoned) metal fan needs in their collection.
On All Those Strangers, Vain make it sound like the late 80s all over again. The reason for that? This follow up disc to their superb debut album was recorded in 1991. It is finally getting to see the light of day thanks to Jackie Rainbow Records who dug it out of the vaults and decided to give it a shot. I am extremely grateful that they did.
Vain was a band that never got enough recognition. Lead singer Davy Vain has the ultimate glam voice, sounding like a cross between Taime Down (Faster Pussycat) and David Roach (Junkyard). Davy Vain is a master behind the microphone. His ability to hit the right key and the precise inflection at the perfect moment is impeccable. On songs like “Shooting Star”, “Love Drug”, and “Here Comes Lonely”, Vain shows his power and ability by sounding like a leader from the L.A. Strip circa 1988.
Exceptional vocals aren’t the only thing that All Those Strangers is blessed with. The guitar playing is incredible, highlighted by Danny West’s killer solos and James Scott enchanting rhythm. All Those Strangers has a lot of fast paced, bluesy moments, which only helps to catapult it to the upper echelon of greatness. It has a sound similar to early LA Guns and a touch of White Lion.
Every song on this disc is great. All Those Strangers is one of those rare records where you want to hear the next song as badly as you want to replay the last one. It’s that strong. Why this band never gained more attention remains a mystery to me. You can blame grunge and the death of the Hollywood Strip scene all you want, but these guys should have made a comeback a lot sooner.
The best song on the disc (by far) is also the power ballad of the record and it an amazing one at that. “Shouldn’t Cry” is the epitome of what late 80s rock aspired to be. If you slap on the headphones, put this song on, and sit in a darkened room with your eyes closed, there is no doubt you will be whisked back to high school days, thinking about your girl and wondering what tomorrow is going to bring. I’ve never heard a song that can transport me back instantaneously the way “Shouldn’t Cry” does. It’s magical.
Blessed with the ability to capture the sound of hair metal at the height of its fame, All Those Strangers is a glam fans dream come true. A must own for your collection, this disc will not disappoint, but it may make you yearn for the easier days of yesteryear. That’s a small price to pay for a collection of exceptional rock and roll.
Rating: Out of 10
Track Listing:
- Love Drug
- Planets Turning
- Shooting Star
- Too Bad
- Far Away
- Wake Up
- Freak Flag
- Here Comes Lonely
- Shouldn’t Cry
- Do You Sleep With Strangers?
- Looking Glass
Vain is:
Davy Vain – Vocals
Danny West – Guitar
James Scott – Guitar
Ashley Mitchell – Bass
Tom Rickard – Drums
5 Delany – Blaze And Ashes (2009)
Soundtracks are pretty standard fare with movies, but a soundtrack to a book…that is a new one on me. Delany’s “Blaze & Ashes” is pretty much that, a concept album based on Wolfgang Hohlbein’s continuation of his successful fantasy novels “Chronicle of the Immortal”. Unfortunately, as I was trying to do my research about this series I couldn’t find anything at all about it online, although: I eventually learned that only a few of Wolfgang Hohlbein’s books have been translated into English at all. But even without knowing anything about the characters being portrayed on this album it is still a very interesting listen. There are three primary vocalists on this album each singing for a different character David Readman (Pink Cream 69, Voodoo Circle), Davy Vain (Vain), and Lana Lane (Roswell Six). They are assisted by a cast of well known and respected musicians such as Volker Leson (Wizard), Tortsi Spoof (Leverage), Jamie Scott (Vain), keyboardist Erik Norlander, and drummer Tommy Rickard along with producer extraordinaire Dennis Ward behind the controls. In spite of having such a huge cast of players “Blaze & Ashes” comes across as the work of a well seasoned band with years of playing together behind them.
Judging from the song list David Readman seems to be singing as the main character in the story and the majority his songs are easily the best on the album. Starting out with the opener “Blood & Ashes”, which is a heavy but melodic and haunting song with some superb keyboards by Norlander. Shocked would be an understatement to my reaction of Davy Vain’s “Here Comes Lonely” as I was expecting his work to sound more like they do on his own band’s releases’ and while his voice is very distinctive it the music and the way the song is sang that shocked me the most slow brooding rocker, but the end results are an extremely good song. Lana Lane is a singer I was not familiar with at all, but after hearing her work on this album, especially on her first track “Love Tears” I am now a fan, imagine Ann Wilson singing to some orchestrated goth influenced rock and hopefully you can get the picture. David Readman is back for “Incarnation” and while I wasn’t as impressed with this song as his first one it is still a decent song and he more than makes up for it on the next track “Web Over London” catchy sing along, but with heavy chugging bass and more melodic keyboards from Erik Norlander. Davy Vain’s “Distance of Love” reminds me a lot of Gene Loves Jezebel, not the greatest song on the album but not the worst either
Other noteworthy tracks include Vain’s “Planets Turning”, Lana Lane’s “Shadow on Your Heart” and the phenomenal “Dead Undead” with David Readman back on vocals. If I had been more familiar with the novels of “Chronicle of the Immortal” I think I would have enjoyed “Blaze & Ashes” even more, but even as a stand alone it is still a very worthy album.
Rating: 
Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Blood And Ashes (Vocals By: David Readman)
2. Here Comes Lonely (Vocals By: Davy Vain)
3. Love Tears (Vocals By: Lana Lane)
4. Incarnation (Vocals By: David Readman)
5. Web Over London (Vocals By: David Readman)
6. Eternity Is Yours (Vocals By: Lana Lane)
7. Planets Turning (Vocals By: Davy Vain)
8. Shadow On Your Heart (Vocals By: Lana Lane)
9. Distance Of Love (Vocals By: Davy Vain)
10. Dead Undead (Vocals By: David Readman)
11. London Bridge (Vocals By: David Readman)
Delany is:
Davy Vain(vocals)
David Readman (vocals)
Lana Lane (vocals)
Volker Leson (bass)
Jamie Scott (guitar)
