Zero – From Zero To Hero

Zero – a Swiss/Italian combo that was shortlived but high octane and hovered on the Euro scene during 1994.

Written by: gdmonline

ARTIST: Zero
ALBUM: From Zero To Hero
LABEL: Zero Corporation
SERIAL: XRCN-1181
YEAR: 1994
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Switzerland

LINEUP: Claudio Schiliro – vocals * Angi Schiliro – guitars, production * David Pisano – keyboards * Enzo Butta – bass * Diego Rapacchietti – drums

TRACK LISTING: 01 Zerock * 02 Last Of The Teenage Idol * 03 Waiting For Your Love * 04 Cryin’ Out For Mercy * 05 No Time For Lyin’ * 06 Space Shuffle * 07 The One And Only * 08 Breathless * 09 Billy Boy * 10 Eternally Yours * 11 I Still Want You * 12 Is This The End

WEBLINKS: NA

Background

Zero was the Swiss/Italian combo that was a shortlived but high octane outfit that hovered on the European scene during the 1994 timeframe. Due to their name, they were rebadged in different countries to avoid confusion, such as: Zerop and ZerO. We’ll just refer to them as Zero in this article.
The membership of Zero mostly comes from Swiss melodic rockers Paganini around the time of their 1990 album ‘Detox’, while guitarist Angi Schiliro also featured in early 80’s Swiss band Stormbringer.

The Songs

So what are Zero all about? A great blend of European bands from that era. When they run wild, it’s Bonfire like, when they cool the jets it could be any German or Swedish band, I won’t attempt to compare, it would be too exhausting. The five minute opener ‘Zerock’ is furious guitar led mayhem, Angi shines in the guitar department the solo one to listen out for when it lands.

You can’t help remember the late Gary Moore when ‘Last Of The Teenage Idol’ kicks in, a true anthem and rebel rouser on the album. Listening to the Southern blues guitar intro on ‘Waiting For Your Love’ will have you zeroing on all those American bands who were churning this stuff out in 1990-1991. Think Sweet F.A, Tuff etc, then you’re in the zone.

‘Cryin’ Out For Mercy’ is a slow chugging rocker, the chorus I have heard on another song but can’t quite place it. ‘No Time For Lyin’ is the album’s power-ballad, the vocal work on this one is exceptional, and as per the song title, ‘Space Shuffle’ does indeed shuffle around the musical scale as intended. ‘The One And Only’ rolls along within a tight groove but the power drums and big vocal work opens this one up like a tin can. The synths take a front seat on the very melodic ‘Breathless’, though the overpowering lead vocal does tend to repeat breathless more times than not.

The tempo is definitely switched on for ‘Billy Boy’, double kick drums are on red alert all the way through, without doubt this veers more to the metal side of the fence. Changing direction all together is the sing-a-long ballad ‘Eternally Yours’ which is a complete about face, while ‘I Still Want You’ is a slow-burn rocker, the album concluding with the mellow ballad of ‘Is This The End’.

In Summary

The album was initially released by Japanese label Zero Corporation in 1994 with subsequent releases following in 1995 and reissues periodically after that. I’d say the original would’ve been a steeply priced and hard to obtain CD in 1994. I’ll admit I don’t recall seeing it on retail lists which came my way, only hearing about it years later. One of the better melodic hard rock releases from 1994 that completely ignored the grunge virus of the day.

Video

Zerock