KING KOBRA
photo
by Colleen Bracken
King Kobra - Ready to Strike (Axe Killer) 1985
1. "Ready to Strike"
(5:19)
2. "Hunger" (3:24)
3. "Shadow Rider" (4:02)
4. "Shake Up" (3:28)
5. "Attention" (3:41)
6. "Breakin' Out" (3:57)
7. "Tough Guys" (4:19)
8. "Dancing With Desire" (5:33)
9. "Second Thoughts" (3:45)
10. "Piece of the Rock" (3:32)
Spandex, make-up, and bleach blonde hair teased to the sky, that is except for resident drum hero Carmine Appice (ex-Ted Nugent) who sets himself apart with his dark brown doo. The music here is a fairly decent slab of melodic, 80's pop metal. For this style this CD is fairly heavy as well; hanging with the likes of Dokken and Rough Cutt . While their sound is slightly generic, the band manages to write some decent anthems that make the CD very enjoyable. Vocalist Mark Free has a decent set of pipes to boot, which really pushes this CD over the edge. (Some years later Mark later decided he was a girl, had an operation and changed his name to Marcie.) Surprisingly the ballads are kept to a minimum here with "Dancing With Desire", a decent sing-along power ballad that isn't as cheesy as might be expected from this spandex clad bunch. Some of the leads even take on a slight Thin Lizzy/Iron Maiden dual lead style. The guitars are have a heavy bite to them, despite being a bit synthisized sounding. "Ready to Strike" also features the bass playing of future W.A.S.P. bassist Johnny Rod.
King Kobra - Thrill of a Lifetime (Axe Killer) 1986
1. Second Time Around 4:03
2. Dream On 4:26
3. Feel the Heat 3:53
4. Thrill of a Lifetime 4:06
5. Only the Strong Will Survive 3:54
6. Iron Eagle (Never Say Die) 3:30
7. Home Sweet Home 4:21
8. Overnight Sensation 4:20
9. Raise Your Hands to Rock 3:47
10. Party Animal 3:53
Carmine Appice and his crew of bleach blonde L.A. poofsters are back for round two. With "Ready to Strike:" the band gave the world a quality mix of heavy music and pop hooks. It was hard driving rock and roll! With "Thrill of a Lifetime" the band brings about hollow, keyboard encrusted pop without an ounce of heavy metal to be found anywhere. Lifeless and stiff as a board, King Kobra were chasing after a wimpy style of radio rock devoid of life without any cahones whatsoever. The album was a sign of the times, sounding like the worst of Night Ranger and Survivor. A lifeless, keyboard heavy production to boot. King Kobra were searching for an identity, but none could be found here. Die-hards melodic rock fans will take me to task on this and I am sure that AOR fans will find something to like here. However, after a promising debut, I was disappointed.
King Kobra - III (Rocker Records) 1988
1. Mean Street Machine (4:26)
2. Take it Off (3:58)
3. Walls of Silence (5:23)
4. Legends Never Die (5:04)
5. Redline (4:07)
6. Burning in Her Fire (3:33)
7. Perfect Crime (3:56)
8. It's My Life (3:40)
9. Number One (5:08)
Album number three for King Kobra features a new line-up, including vocalist, Johnny "Boy" Edwards. "III" is a more straight forward hard rock sound and a return to form, in my opinion, after the dreadfully poppy, keyboard drenched "Thrill of a Lifetime". There are even two upbeat, speedy rockers in "Mean Street Machine" and "Redline". The song "Mean Street Machine" was apparently originally written for guitarist David Michael-Phillips former band Schoolboys. For whatever reason, the lyrics were re-written and Carmine Appice gains a writing credit on this song. "Take It Off" is a typical 1980's, party-hard, party-naked type rocker with a hooky chorus. It's sort of surprising, given the times, that this song didn't get some radio play. Obviously the band being on a smaller label was to their detriment at the time. Of course, what would poofy-hair 80's rock be without a ballad? "III" ends with a ballad titled "Number One" and also has an acoustic ballad titled "Legends Never Die". "Legends" was written by Gene Simmons and also recorded by Doro and Wendy O. Williams. It's actually a very good song and it's sort of surprising that none of these versions were a hit. "It's My Life", a song written by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS was originally intended to be on the 1982 "Creatures of the Night" album but not used but didn't make the cut. The song was finally recorded by by Wendy O. Williams on her 1984 album. Kiss also recorded the song for their 1998 album "Psycho Circus" but the song didn't make the final cut and was only released on their box set. Recorded in '88 by King Kobra, the song sounds very much like an 80's Kiss song and with Johnny Edwards slightly raspy voice, almost sounds as if Peter Criss were singing it. Actually Edwards raspy howl reminds me of a cross between Criss and Dave Meniketti of Y&T. Frankly I think this should have been the follow-up to the band's debut. I wonder how much more popular King Kobra might have been if it had been?
Unfortunately I only have a cassette version of this album. I'm keeping my eyes peeled for a CD copy, or at least a good vinyl copy.