Badlands
Voodoo Highway

THE REVIEW

The second album by Badlands (in 1999 a third posthumous one was released: "Dusk"), created by the former guitarist of the Ozzy Osbourne band: Jake E. Lee, during the "Bark At The Moon," "The Ultimate Sin" period, can truly be considered one of the brightest examples of hard blues from the nineties. Released in 1991, two years after the more polished and produced debut, which was still excellent, the band distinctly dirtied their sound with a more raw and essential production, embracing the seventies blues sound much cherished by bands like Free, Bad Company, Montrose, Whitesnake, and Led Zeppelin.

Led by Lee's six-string, which finally allowed him to fully express his great talent as a bluesman, this is however the album of Ray Gillen, one of the most talented singers of the '80s and unfortunately also one of the most unfortunate. Missed, for legal reasons, the chance of a lifetime, joining the mid-eighties Black Sabbath, those who were about to record "The Eternal Idol," with whom he managed to do some concerts and some demos, recoverable in rare bootlegs, his life was prematurely cut short by a terrible illness that took him away at only 34. Comparable to the best hard vocalists of the '70s, from Paul Rodgers to Robert Plant, with this album, inexplicably underrated at the time, Gillen had the chance for a career redemption, and more than fifteen years after his death, we can say he fully succeeded.

The album cover, depicting a forlorn little house, immersed in a swampy environment, is highly indicative of where the album will go. The supergroup completed by Greg Chaisson on bass and Jeff Martin on drums dives immediately from the initial "The Last Time" into a hard blues, with Lee's guitar taking center stage and an organ in the background laying a carpet for Gillen's unbeatable voice. Few weak points in this album. Authentic acoustic interludes are embedded with heavier riffs, as in "Show Me The Way". Gems of genuine hard blues are "Whiskey Dust", the splendid "Silver Horses", "3 Day Funk" (a funk blues that wouldn't look out of place on any Black Crowes album) while more metal-oriented songs like "Shine On", "Soul Stealer", and "Heaven's Train" bring back the past of the musicians in this band.

"Joe's Blues" is nothing more than a brief showcase of Lee's acoustic skills, while in "Voodoo Highway" they surprise us with an acoustic blues featuring Lee on Dobro. The final two gems are a cover of James Taylor, "Fire And Rain", naturally rendered in rock style, and "In A Dream", an a cappella song by Gillen, just to give further proof of his vocal versatility.

A small jewel to be passed down to posterity, to show that in the early '90s there was not only grunge but also bands like Badlands who, despite lasting only for two albums, managed to create a record full of warmth and tradition while keeping a foot in the present. Then it’s known that when two talents like Lee and Gillen have to coexist, sparks often fly. The band disbanded almost immediately, and the sad ending I've already told...