Desperado
was a short lived hard rock supergroup (well, three quarters of one,
anyway) that sparked and sputtered from ’89 to ’90. Twisted Sister
frontman Dee Snider sang, original Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr bashed
away on the skins, and gypsy-glam guitar legend Bernie Torme wielded the
axe. Five years earlier, they could have been a smash, but the
encroaching army of Cobains killed any chance they might have had, and a
jumpy Elektra dropped them without releasing their album. This, then, is
what might have been. The songs were written by Snider and Torme (Dee
would later snatch up some of the Desperado stuff for the clompier
Widowmaker) but the material represents the former’s penchant for cheesy
80’s flash much more than the lattter’s usual acid-glitter spaceball
ricochet. As such, “Ace” sounds very 1989, full of ham-fisted cowboy glam
metal and over the top power ballads, somewhere between Rock City Angels
and LA Guns, maybe. An interesting listen for time-capsule kicks, but
Desperado would have needed a lot more Torme and a lot less Snider to
outlast the game. “Ace” comes complete with a booklet featuring plenty of
vintage photos and liner notes with quotes from the two main players.
_______________________________________________________
Desperado
was a short lived hard rock supergroup (well, three quarters of one,
anyway) that sparked and sputtered from ’89 to ’90. Twisted Sister
frontman Dee Snider sang, original Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr bashed
away on the skins, and gypsy-glam guitar legend Bernie Torme wielded the
axe. Five years earlier, they could have been a smash, but the
encroaching army of Cobains killed any chance they might have had, and a
jumpy Elektra dropped them without releasing their album. This, then, is
what might have been. The songs were written by Snider and Torme (Dee
would later snatch up some of the Desperado stuff for the clompier
Widowmaker) but the material represents the former’s penchant for cheesy
80’s flash much more than the lattter’s usual acid-glitter spaceball
ricochet. As such, “Ace” sounds very 1989, full of ham-fisted cowboy glam
metal and over the top power ballads, somewhere between Rock City Angels
and LA Guns, maybe. An interesting listen for time-capsule kicks, but
Desperado would have needed a lot more Torme and a lot less Snider to
outlast the game. “Ace” comes complete with a booklet featuring plenty of
vintage photos and liner notes with quotes from the two main players.
_______________________________________________________