•
Rating: Charles Frederick Winger, known as Kip, is a talented musician native to Colorado, with jazz musician parents who immersed him (lucky him) in music from a tiny embryo. His parents started him on music theory and practice studies at just five years old, so by nine he was already performing in schools with his older brothers, playing the Beatles and later even progressive music.
As a young man, Kip diversified his artistic interests by studying classical guitar and ballet in depth, then he moved to New York to become a professional musician, soon succeeding by relocating to Los Angeles, being hired as a bassist by Alice Cooper. The subsequent meeting with two excellent guitarists like Reb Beach (dazzling and highly technical, later in Dokken and now in Whitesnake) and Paul Taylor (more ordinary, but a great composer, currently a respected soundtrack composer) and with fusion drummer Rod Morgestein (formerly of Dixie Dregs, then Jelly Jam, currently a teaching professor at Berkeley, a demon of precision and taste) gave rise to the Winger project, the band.
The times (late eighties) were those infamously known as Hair Metal, with teased hair, booming and catchy choruses, leggings, and hairy chests. Winger allowed themselves to be guided by their managers and rode the trend of the moment, receiving immediate and plump returns in terms of success and sales. The first two albums entered the charts and MTV rotation, and established Winger within the vast group of classic metal realities capable, at the time, of selling millions of records, similarly to Dokken, Whitesnake, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Journey, Cinderella, Bon Jovi, Kiss naturally and then again Poison, Heart, Warrant, Giant, Triumph.
These are two well-played and sung records but perfectly anonymous, today after twenty years entirely superfluous, holding up very poorly over time. But the true and commendable career of Kip Winger begins with what is officially the third album of the band, in reality to be considered as his first solo. It was released in 1993, exactly at the period when the major American record labels were orchestrating a drastic shift towards grunge for nearly all commercial and financial resources dedicated to rock. Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden were in vogue, everything from Seattle turned to gold, the anger, depression, and raw immediacy of late punk took the place of the stallion poses, macho lyrics, and virtuosic barrages of guitar notes that had infested the previous decade. So much better because there is almost nothing of the glossy and narcissistic hard rock of the first two albums in this record, a genre at that point definitively fallen into disgrace after years of revelry.
The guiding instrument of nearly all the tracks is, so to speak, the acoustic guitar, played almost exclusively by Kip himself, in a sober and powerful style, absolutely distant from folk, with the tension and resolve typical of hard rock. The leader's voice becomes dramatic and engaging, his arranging skills make it the protagonist of rich scores, with overdubs and harmonizations often providing a backdrop, in a role usually reserved for keyboards. The lyrics become introspective and even political, one of them ("In For The Kill", beautiful) directly addresses the Gulf War and the true interests that promoted it. It's truly a genuine, inspired, exciting, well-sung record and inevitably well-played since Reb Beach and Morgestein are two real virtuosos and add extra value to everything with instrumental passages covered in class (the band had meanwhile reduced to a trio, doing without Paul Taylor).
Unfortunately, the change of direction, intensity, and quality was not picked up by rock enthusiasts, and the album sold much less than its predecessors. Probably the Winger name was by then tarnished, let's say it that way, by the group's previously constructed image, or perhaps more simply anything done at that time without wearing flannel shirts and without having even a relative from Seattle couldn't in any way be acceptable, and therefore pushed and promoted by the industry leaders.
The right album at the wrong time, then, what a shame. Everything about this album is perfect or nearly so, including the elegant packaging and without the ridiculous Robocop-style Winger logo that infested the previous covers. I therefore warmly recommend this fine specimen, little known and widespread, of American hard rock, intelligent, captivating, and full of talent, pointing out, to conclude, its best features. These are "Down Incognito," beautiful in its being the single, reasonably successful at the time in the USA, then "Junkyard Dog" with its peculiarity of starting electric and ending acoustic, changing skin with incredible coherence and force, then again "The Lucky One" a magnificence with infinite electroacoustic resonances, and also "Like A Ritual" which enjoys a percussive coda where Rod Morgestein and guest Alex Acuna, far from performing solos, do magical things with magnificent, almost tribal sounds. The cherry on the cake, the epilogue "Who's The One," Kip Winger's career masterpiece: two acoustic guitars, percussion, and infinite background voices, for a hard ballad that in my opinion should belong to the memory of any good rock music lover, being among my absolute favorites.
How can a strong and passionate voice and an acoustic guitar played with tension and pathos completely eschew folk atmospheres and insert themselves into heavy rock? Here lies a shining example, worthy of a Led Zeppelin III.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Blind Revolution Mad (05:26)
Into this world
Little boy brave
Charity heart
Faithfully plays
Heal the scars
Unto his eyes
Salvage the goodness
Of dreams never lived
Dreams never died
Again and again
Again and again
Haunted by the trust of a child
With no place to go now
Little boy brave
Wanders the streets
Faithfully plays
But his broken arrows
Once filled with pride
Aimed and missed
At the dreams never lived
Dreams never died
Again and again
Again and again
Haunted by the trust of a child
Never give in
Never give up
Little boy brave
Never lived
Never died
Appears to be
Blind Revolution Mad
The mercy ends
Where the mercy began
Seems justified
I'm turnin' this around
Jawbreaker Lawmaker
Have it your way
Campaign smokescreen
Glorifies the mainstream
Cities on remote control
Meanwhile vigilante gangs
Dig their fangs into the streets
They've overthrown
While plastic faces
Run for king of this
Disassociation land
I'm dying to find
Anyone who understands
Behold........
One more Blind Revolution Mad
One more chance of a lifetime
Rage runs rampant
Always been abandoned
Killin' for some pocket change
Blames being force fed rules
Governed by fools
Slammin' you against the grain
And the nation's glued to CNN
To watch their own creation
Behold
One more Blind Revolution Mad
One more chance of a lifetime
One more Blind Revolution Mad
Fee Fi Fo Fum
One for all and all for one
Don't try to stop me
I've already gone crazy
One for all and all for one
Overthrow your kingdom come
Don't try to stop me
You're the reason I'm crazy
Behold
One more Blind Revolution Mad
One more chance of a lifetime
One more Blind Revolution Mad
Mind in the gutter turned
another boy bad
Oh behold
(Repeat Chorus)
02 Down Incognito (03:49)
Days undercover
All out of sync
Haven't paid the rent
Even talking in my sleep
My monkey's M.O.
Is all out of commission
I'm waiting for a good
old-fashioned cure
For my condition
'Cos I'm all out of charm
And I'm all out of money
Hanging
Down Incognito
Waiting for the sun to shine
Fools to the left
Jokers to the right
Waitin' for the rest of us
To come and take a bite
But I'll wait it out
Call it superstition
I'll be fine for now
Just reminiscing
(Repeat Chorus)
I just had to let it go
Took all the pennies I had
Threw 'em in the wishing well
And I wish you well
Days undercover
All out of sync
Haven't paid the rent
Even talking in my sleep
My monkey's M.O.
Is all out of commission
I'm waiting for a good
old-fashioned cure
For my condition
(Repeat Chorus)
Me and my amigos
Down Incognito
03 Spell I'm Under (03:55)
Woman Never before
Without a word I hear so much
Woman Under the spell
Every sin Holy in your touch
It's all I feel It's all I see
And all I know It must be you
You're the spell I'm under
You're the spell I'm under
Woman How deep can I go
Every inch born a new obsession
Woman How did you know
That I couldn't have helped myself From comin' closer
To the oracle of faith taboo
All my temptation Hooked on You-
You're the spell I'm under
Must be you
You're the spell I'm under
Feels like a drug
My will revealed in your spell
I remember...
You're all I feel You're all I see
Revolving in the need for You-
You're the spell I'm under
I know it must be you
You're the spell I'm under
Feels like a drug
Didn't take very long
05 Junkyard Dog (Tears on Stone) (06:54)
So you never meant lettin' it
go this far
The lifestyle that seemed so charmin'
You couldn't see
They saw you comin'
Buried you in their sin
Promisin' ecstasy
You were so blind
Look out
'Cos now the dog's inside you
The Junkyard Dog speaks for you
Ain't no master of the Junkyard Dog
How does it feel to live
Where there's no dimension
I wonder if it was ever your
intention
A straight -A- student
Straight down the drain
Master of the mainline
Keeper of the ball and chain
You were so blind
Look what you've done now
Rolled the dice
For paradise
Damn you for taking bad advice
(Repeat Chorus)
Frozen there jackknifed forever
In the foaming jaw
And invisible claw
Ain't no master of the Junkyard Dog
Ain't no master
Now you're gone
What an irony
My friend I feel not much sympathy
No one could tame you
You wouldn't listen
Voices in your head
Screaming absolute submission
And now the dog's inside you
The Junkyard Dog speaks for you
Ain't no master of the Junkyard Dog
Frozen there jackknifed forever
In the foaming jaw
And invisible claw
Ain't no master of the Junkyard Dog
You were blind
Look what you've done now
Rolled the dice
For paradise
Damn you for taking bad advice
Baby ain't no master of the Junk
I guess my pride got the best of me
But it would have taken a war
To get through to you
I know I'd walked out too soon
When I found you on the floor
No it's never been the same
The dreams they come
They never change
Nothing left but my tears falling
on stone
No it's never been the same
Guess I've only got myself to blame
See the nest
The bird has flown
There's nothing left
But my tears falling on stone
....say goodbye....
I guess my pride got the best of me
There's nothing left but the tears
Falling on stone
Damn you for taking bad advice
07 In for the Kill (04:12)
Times are changin'
We'd best beware
The world is in the electric chair
The state holds out its loving cup
Singing power to the people
But their power's corrupt
Burning crosses and secretly
Carry swastikas and M 16s
Nevermind the pages of history
It just keeps repeating, keeps
repeating
It's always the same
Seems like nothing will ever change
We pay to wear the blindfold
But look out
'Cos they're movin'
In for the kill
In for the kill
Yankee Doodle leadin' lambs
to slaughter
Just for the thrill
Good things come to those who wait
good advice just a bit too late
Any chance for trust went up in smoke
When a preacher's lust was sponsored
by coke
Day after day
It's always the same
We pay to wear the blindfold
Baby look out
'Cos they're movin'
In for the kill
In for the kill
Disbelievers drink the poisonwater
Time stands still
Don't fill my eyes, fill my head
Till I'm overloaded
You talk and you talk and you talk
But I don't hear anything
Times are changin'
There ain't no cure
It's a wasteland
One thing's for sure
Ain't no gold to grind the axe
So keep your fingers crossed
While you're crossin' the tracks
'Cos good blind faith ain't
good enough
Baby's heat crumbled to dust
Hooray for the Outlaw
Keeps movin'
In for the kill
In for the kill
Yankee Doodle leadin' lambs
to slaughter
Just for the thrill
Don't fill my eyes, fill my head
Till I'm overloaded
You talk and you talk
You know I don't hear it anymore
But you keep on movin'
In for the kill
In for the kill
Yankee Doodle leadin' lambs
to slaughter
Just for the thrill
My word's no good, it's
not enough
08 No Man's Land (03:17)
"So this is love, or so you tell me
As you're walkin', out the door
Months go by, and I know for certain
It's not the love, I'm lookin' for"
"Some times, just for a moment,
I reach out; hope you're still there"
"Miles away,
No; you're never turnin' back,
I just can't wait anymore
Miles away,
Nothin' left of what we had,
Just when I needed you most...
You were miles away..."
"It's hard to tell, what you're goin' through
You kept your feelings locked inside of you
Open your heart, and chances are,
What you're feelin', I'm feelin' too"
"If only, just for a moment,
Hold on, to the dreams that we had"
"Miles away,
No; you're never turnin' back,
I just can't wait anymore
Miles away,
Nothin' left of what we had,
Just when I needed you most
You were miles away"
"When times were tough, and you were down and out
Who was there by your side?
Now you've gone; I'm so tired of bein' alone..
With only youromises..."
"Lonliness just fades away,
Thoughts of you; just memories
No cryin' now, for what we're missin'
Time won't forget what you meant to me"
"Hold me, just for a moment
Hold on, to the dreams that we had"
"Miles away,
No; you're never turnin' back,
I just can't wait anymore
Miles away,
Nothin' left of what we had,
Just when I needed you most, whoa-oh,
Miles away,
No; you're never turnin' back,
I just can't wait anymore,
Miles away,
Nothin' left of what we had,
Just when I needed you most..."
"You were mi-les a-way..."
Loading comments slowly
