Storm have toned down their zany antics from four years earlier. Instead they focused on putting together an artistic piece de resistance.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Storm
ALBUM: Storm (1983)
LABEL: Capitol
SERIAL: ST-12259
YEAR: 1983
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Jeanette Chase – vocals, piano * Lear Stevens – guitars, synthesizer, vocals * Ronni Hansen – bass, synthesizer, vocals * Jimmy Monroe – drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 Settle Down * 02 Runnin’ From You * 03 Come Home * 04 Hand In Hand * 05 Anything For Your Love * 06 Play With Me * 07 Pez * 08 Take Me Away * 09 So Long
WEBLINKS: NA
Background
This L.A quartet released their commercially challenged self titled album back in 1979. It was an overblown piece of pomp of some substance. It’s still very much a talking point among pomp/70’s collectors to this day.
Their aural bombast was a breath of fresh air at the time. But the band were difficult to pigeonhole stylistically. As such, media had great trouble understanding them. Not so the fans of AOR from that era, who took to the band enthusiastically.
Storm have toned down their zany antics from four years earlier. Instead they concentrated on putting together an artistic piece of work befitting their obvious talent.
Again, it’s a self titled album, this time on a different label. Still very much the focal point influence-wise is the UK band Queen. The overall package has more melodic rock and pure AOR than the debut ever did.
The Songs
‘Settle Down’ is the opening track, and has some nice keyboard parps going on – a great lead-in. The chop/change nature of it smacks a bit of Heart circa ‘Little Queen/Dog And Butterfly’.
On the other hand, ‘Runnin’ From You’ has a similarity to that one-off Riff Raff album ‘Vinyl Futures’. It has big bucket-like drumwork, while Jeanette screams her head off!
‘Come Home’ is the ballad. If you can imagine the three female singers from Tantrum singing a Queen song, then this is it.
‘Hand In Hand’ owes a debt to the fieriest moments of Queen. This includes operatic piano, Brian May soundalike guitar flurries and some brutal drumming.
A throwback to the debut is the excellent ‘Anything for Your Love’. There’s massive vocal harmonies on the chorus and a continuation of the heavy-handed bottom end.
‘Play With Me’ has elements of hard edged pop. It features one of the guys (I’ll presume it’s Lear) adding lead vocals alongside his chugga chugga guitar.
Some angelic vocal effects precede the track ‘Take Me Away’. But it meanders in a similar fashion to Canadian keyboard wizards Strange Advance. Thankfully they finish off in a bombastic flurry.
‘So Long’ in terms of a songtitle it maybe their epitaph. But this track sizzles with some clever pieces and style changes contained within it.
In Summary
Unfortunately, there is very little other news about the members of the band, and what they all went onto.
To be honest, I don’t think there was a band who ever came close to matching this outfit. You can discount Queen because Storm emulated them nor the other way round. Darling Cruel and Canadian band National Velvet made unconscious attempts.
Of the two Storm albums, I think I prefer this one, but only just. I would love to see this get an official CD release. The sonic quality of the instrumentation alone is enough to get me excited!
[Footnote: this was reissued in 2006 by Rock Candy Records, after this review was written circa 2001]
Storm on Video
Click to go to YTM album page.
Single file only.
