Blue Murder Blue Murder

Solo band of John Sykes, who made a name for himself in Thin Lizzy and Whitesnake and also has released several solo discs. Initial trials for the band included vocalist Ray Gillen (Black Sabbath/Badlands) and versatile drummer Cozy Powell. However Sykes would end up doing vocals himself and adding ex-Firm bassist Tony Franklin, drummer Carmine Appice (of Vanilla Fudge, King Kobra, etc.) and Nik Green on keyboards. Later incarnations of the band included Marco Mendoza (bass) and Tommy O'Steen (drums) and for a short while Kelly Keeling (ex-Baton Rouge) as lead vocalist.

Blue Murder (Geffen) 1989

1. "Riot" (6:21)
2. "Sex Child" (5:59)
3. "Valley of the Kings" (7:51)
4. "Jelly Roll" (4:44)
5. "Blue Murder" (4:55)
6. "Out of Love" (6:44)
7. "Billy" (4:11)
8. "Ptolemy" (6:29)
9. "Black-Hearted Woman" (4:47)

 Blue Murder 1989

Picked this on up because the line-up included John Sykes of Thin Lizzy/Whitesnake fame on guitar. Also in the band is Tony Franklin on bass and Carmine Appice, drums and backing vocals. The music is a bit to much on the pop rock side for my liking, but it's not terrible either. Sykes is a great guitarist, although I prefer his work with Thin Lizzy. They also released an album called "Nothing But Trouble" in 1993.

Nothin' But Trouble Blue Murder- Nothin' But Trouble (Geffen) 1993

1. "We All Fall Down" (4:47)
2. "Itchyoo Park" (3:46)
3. "Cry for Love" (6:57)
4. "Runaway" (5:58)
5. "Dance" (4:08)
6. "I'm on Fire" (4:45)
7. "Save My Love" (4:48)
8. "Love Child" (5:29)
9. "Shouldn't Have Let You Go" (4:10)
10. "I Need an Angel" (7:02)
11. "She Knows" (3:38)

 Blue Murder 1993

John Sykes returns with the second disc on Geffen with a completely new band that included bassist Marco Mendoza, who later went on to do the Thin Lizzy reunion with Mr. Sykes. In any case, this disc has a big, beefy 80's sound with big choruses and even bigger production. The first disc, never grew on me, but this one has already seen play several times within the first week since I have had it. John's voice is stronger than ever as are his shredding guitar solos. To bad it took four years to follow up the debut. I can imagine that this hurt the band's following considerably. "Itchyoo Park" is a Small Faces cover.

Screaming Blue Murder Blue Murder-Screaming Blue Murder-Dedicated to Phil Lynott (Geffen) 1994

1. "Riot" (7:16)
2. "Cry For Love" (7:53)
3. "Cold Sweat" (3:26)
4. "Billy" (6:45)
5. "Save My Love" (3:36)
6. "Jelly Roll" (4:51)
7. "We All Fall Down" (5:24)
8. "Please Don't Leave Me" (7:27)
9. "Still of the Night" (8:48)
10. "Dancing in the Moonlight" (4:39)

A Japanese only release, recorded live in Japan on December, 1993. Stellar show featuring, of course, axe-master John Sykes. Oddly enough, the full title of the disc is Screaming Blue Murder-Dedicated to Phil Lynott. It's so amazing that Phil's life had such an effect on Sykes that some ten years later he is still lamenting the death of his friend. As such, there are two Sykes/Lynott penned songs on this disc. Of course "Cold Sweat" was originally recorded on Thin Lizzy's "Thunder & Lightning" disc. The other track "Still of the Night" was never released on any official Thin Lizzy cd. There is also the classic Thin Lizzy song "Dancing in the Moonlight". All three songs are reason enough to own this disc. However, add to that Sykes huge hit from his Whitesnake years, "Still of the Night," plus several Blue Murder classics, and this is one fine collection. I must say that I found it a bit odd hearing such a faithful rendition of "Still of the Night" without David Coverdale on vocals though. The sound quality of this disc is excellent and actually puts a bite to some of the Blue Murder material like "Riot." Sharing the stage with Mr. Sykes is Marco Medonza (bass), Tommy O'Steen (drums), and Nik Green (keys).

 Marco Mendoza & John Sykes
John Sykes & Marco Medoza

.Related bands:
Thin Lizzy | Whitesnake | Sykes | Phillip Lynott

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