The Storm were a supergroup if there was ever one. The best AOR band to be formed this side of Journey.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: The Storm
ALBUM: The Storm
LABEL: Interscope
SERIAL: 7 91741-2
YEAR: 199167
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Kevin Chalfant – vocals * Gregg Rolie – vocals, keyboards * Josh Ramos – guitars * Ross Valory – bass * Steve Smith – drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 You Keep Me Waiting * 02 I’ve Got A Lot To Learn About Love * 03 In The Raw * 04 You’re Gonna Miss Me * 05 Call Me * 06 Show Me The Way * 07 I Want You Back * 08 Still Loving You * 09 Touch And Go * 10 Gimme Love * 11 Take Me Away * 12 Can’t Live Without Love
Background
The Storm were a supergroup if there was ever one. The best AOR band to be formed this side of Journey, and as you can see from the above lineup, it’s three-parts Journey anyway, with fellow San Francisco residents Chalfant (707, Steel Breeze, The Vu) and Ramos (Le Mans) stepping into the breech.
As history will show, while this lot were running around on the one hand, their counterparts Bad English (featuring Messrs Schon and Cain) were running around on the other hand. AOR fans never had it so good, with two quality outfits putting out great music spawned primarily from the one band.
An AORsters wet dream. A double bill would have been too much I’m sure! With the inactivity of Journey, the other members launched alternative careers, The Storm being one of them. It’s a closer relative to the great ones I think than what Bad English were, while the songs sound smoother and more purer than the heavy handed treatment given by Schon and co wth B.E.
The Songs
Beau Hill twiddles the dials for The Storm as Interscope’s resident producer, and a lovely set of memorable tunes is assembled on this debut album. It’s full of anthemic rockers, with captivating hooks and strong choruses. The vocal performances from both Chalfant and Rolie give the album added contrast. Rolie sings lead on the wonderful ‘Call Me’, mid-tempo melodrama of the finest sort, whilst adding his presence on ‘Still Loving You’, a cruisier track akin to Mike And The Mechanics.
However, the killer material is where Chalfant does the deed. Tracks such as ‘I Want You Back’, ‘You’re Gonna Miss Me’ and the opener ‘You Keep Me Waiting’ are primo AOR. The ballads are an area where a band such as The Storm excel. Hence, ‘Show Me the Way’ and ‘I’ve Got A Lot To Learn About Love’ touch raw nerves, with the operative word being ‘soaring’. Elsewhere the upstart ‘In The Raw’ is as wacky as it is out of place on an album such as this, still it’s good for what it is!
In Summary
Again, as history will show, the numbers didn’t quite stack up for The Storm, and unfortunately their deal with Interscope was soured somewhat when the label and it’s producer Beau Hill parted ways less than amicably, leaving the band high and dry due to Intetscope’s I’ll advised move to support rap music.
They did however, appear several years later during 1995 on another label with the supreme album ‘Eye Of The Storm’.. a classic of it’s year and an album which like this one, should sit proudly among your collection of CD’s. The Storm eventually folded in 1996 with all members going off to different projects.
Video
You Keep Me Waiting
Show Me The Way
