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Thread: Voodoo Highway- Badlands

  1. #1

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    Default Voodoo Highway- Badlands

    Voodoo Hightway-BADLANDS

    Genre: Hard Blues
    Released:June 1991
    Label: Atlantic

    The second album by hard blues band Badlands. Yes I said Hard Blues despite what the member roster looks like.
    Members;
    Guitar:Jake E. Lee former guitar player for Ozzy Osbourne.
    Singer: Ray Gillen former singer for Black Sabbath
    Drums: Jeff Martin former singer for racer X
    Bass: Greg Chaisson formerly of Surgical Steel

    When I heard Jake E. Lee left Ozzy and formed his own band I was anxious to hear the new band thinking it was going to be hard rock heavy. Although the first Badlands album was great and not all that heavy, I was really anticipating a much heavier album with Voodoo Highway being the 2nd album by the band. When I purchased the cassette I played it through maybe one time and was really turned off by the raw, bluesy sound of this album yet there was a song or two that caught my attention.
    Disappointed I let the casstte set in a pile for several months. Out of the blue I decided to put it in one day while cleaning house. As I really listened to the album in depth, it hit me like a ton of bricks what a great album this was!! It's got soul, emotion and feeling in a big way. I finally caught on to what it was all about; raw, heavy blues with an attitude.

    Despite being known as a metal guitarist for Ozzy, Jakes blues influence is very predominant throughout this album with some really cool techniques such as in Silver Horses when he switches back and forth between single and double coil pickups on his Strat for the verses giving it a really different sound. He also plays a Dobro for the title track Voodoo Highway to give it a really bluesy sound.

    Vocals, Ray Gillen, what more is there to say about Ray? Again despite being known for his work with a heavy band (Black Sabbath) Ray really, REALLY sings on this album. One of the best voices ever in the business in my opinion. You just don't hear too many people with pipes like Ray.

    Drums. What's interesting to note here is Jeff Martin the drummer is also the SINGER for the metal band Racer X. Again, another metal musician with another talent that really shines when he plays blues. Jeff has some really cool chops on this album and everything just seems to fit really well. Like his tom parts in "Whiskey Dust". It's funny how in the credits he gets recognition for playing a "Size 10 boot" in the title track Voodoo Highway since there is no drums but they recorded a boot tapping to the music. That's cool raw right there!!

    Bass. Greg is definitely laying down some really tight grooves that compliment the drums on this album. Like in the song "3 Day Funk".

    Another interesting song on the album is a cover of Fire and Rain by James Taylor. Supposedly the band was doing a sound check and sometimes played "Fire and Water" by the band Free, Ray accidently said "Fire and Rain" one night and the band played it anyway. They thought Ray sounded so good that they recorded it.

    All in all there's not really a bad song on this album if you like blues or hard blues. I'm absolutely digging the direction Badlands took blues and rock with this album and it's raw recording sound gives it that much more a natural feel.

    If you like blues or hard rock this album may suprise you.

    Here's a fine example of how well they clicked live. Whiskey Dust off the Voodoo Highway album. The actual song doesn't start until around 2:12.
    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXHeoZm0qWM"]Badlands Live In UK 1992 pt5 - YouTube[/ame]

  2. #2

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    Default Re: Voodoo Highway- Badlands

    I used to have this CD a looooong time ago, and just received another copy off Ebay today. With Jake now playing again with the Red Dragon Cartel, I realized how badly I missed hearing his music. Playing drums along to songs like "High Wire" and "Hard Driver" just put a smile on my face. Now my Badlands collection is complete again.

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