Warrior featuring Vinnie Vincent, Jimmy Waldo, Gary Shea & Hirsh Gardner: II

Although Vinnie Vincent, New England and KISS fans more than likely had dubious copies of them in their collection already, finally owning the Warrior ‘album’ was proof that hope does indeed spring eternal. A band formed from the ashes of New England, when keyboard player Jimmy Waldo, bassist Gary Shea and drummer Hirsh Gardner found themselves singer and guitar-less, Warrior was completed by a pre-KISS fret master called Vincent Cusano, who would go on to be known as Vinnie Vincent.

Recorded in 1982, the first Warrior collection was based round the six track demo the band recorded at the same time Vincent was also writing and recording Creatures Of The Night with KISS. Enhanced with further demos and writing session recordings, it was an insight into how Warrior nearly got going. In the end, they only existed for the best part of three months, with Vincent quickly replacing an ailing Ace Frehley in KISS. It was an interesting demo collection and one that as a huge fan of the three bands/artists involved was a welcome one. In truth, however, it was undoubtedly niche stuff, but obviously not so niche that a follow up hasn’t been demanded. And here it is, II basing itself round, well, the same six songs that the first Warrior release was, but second go round we have a ‘better quality’ recording that has subsequently been discovered in Gary Shea’s own personal collection. This time they close out the 13 track disc one of this two disc release, with a classy demo of “No Substitute� and the fiery fret howl of “Hot Nights� certainly keeping you tuned in and wondering what might have been. An alternative demo of “I Need Love� is decidedly lo-fi stuff, although the super-melodic “Tears� does manage to shine through the demo-gloom. What’s most impressive about these cuts is Vinnie Vincent’s excellent vocals, a full, rich voice coming across well in this un doctored setting. In fairness, the thin reedy sounding 1 minute 43 seconds of “Back On The Streets� adds little, although the muddy mix of “That Time Of Year� - credited as a ‘writing demo’, does fare a little better.

Changing tack, disc two opens with a 1988 demo of the Waldo/Steven Rosen track, “Thrill Of The Chase� that Vincent heard and some six years after Warrior folded, insisted on having a crack at recording. He was right, it is a fantastic song and this is an excellent version that deserved to be recorded under stronger circumstances. Vincent’s guitar work is simply jaw dropping here and, although I’m not 100% sure who is singing on this recording, my guess is that it is Vinnie Vincent Invasion singer of the time Mark Slaughter who is adding some great vocals. From there we are back in lo-fi demo mode, with just over a minute of a ropey “Gypsy In Her Eyes� just about bearable, although I’m not sure that even completists (of which I count myself as one) will sit through the twenty-minute plus ‘writing demo’ of “That Time Of Year� more than once or twice. Yes, hearing the band trial and error their way through the song’s main idea is kind of interesting, but in the end there’s a reason why stuff like this usually stays hidden in a cupboard for a very long time. Next up is a click-laden instrumental rehearsal of “Boyz Gonna Rock�, which is renowned for having been reworked into “And On The 8th Day� by KISS for the Lick It Up album and also then reworked again under its original title for the debut Vinnie Vincent Invasion release. Next there’s a similar circumstance version of the track “Gypsy In Her Eyes� and a sickly smooth “My Heart Goes With You� which is more pop-pap than it is ready rocker, before the mainly vocal only demo for “Forbidden� and the vocal/keyboard demo of “That Time Of Year� close things out in under whelming fashion.

Now, I’ve long been know as a KISS fanatic, and a follower of the unsteady, up and down career of Vinnie Vincent - and I love New England. However, with the main six songs on this collection not only available as bootlegs, but also in a slightly worse for wear fashion on a separate Cherry Red/HNE offering released just over a year ago, the wider appeal of this collection really is questionable. Especially when you realise how many of the tracks are repeated between the two. A couple of the songs (also available as bootlegs countless times over) are of real interest and there’s no denying that some people will get a huge kick from the revealing, behind the scenes nature of this material. However, trying to take off my KISS tinted-spectacles, there really isn’t a huge amount of re-listenability about much on this collection, with the real fun coming from trying to spot the tiniest snippets of ideas that ended up on Creatures Of The Night, Lick It Up or the Vinnie Vincent Invasion debut and even that loses appeal pretty quickly.

That said, in truly hypocritical fashion, I am still happy to have these recordings in my collection. If - and only if - your level of fandom matches those same questionable levels then you too will want to have Warrior II on your CD shelves. Although you may not reach for it very often.

Track Listing
DISC ONE
1. NO SUBSTITUTE
2. BACK ON THE STREETS (ALTERNATIVE DEMO)
3. HOT NIGHTS
4. I NEED LOVE (ALTERNATIVE DEMO)
5. TEARS
6. THAT TIME OF YEAR (WRITING DEMO)
7. FORBIDDEN (WRITING DEMO)
8. BOYZ GONNA ROCK
9. IT AIN’T PRETTY… BEING EASY
10. BACK ON THE STREETS
11. GYPSY IN HER EYES
12. I NEED LOVE
13. BABY O WHY

DISC TWO
1. THRILL OF THE CHASE (1988 DEMO)
2. GYPSY IN HER EYES (REHEARSAL WITH VOCAL)
3. THAT TIME OF YEAR / FORBIDDEN (REHEARSAL)
4. BOYZ GONNA ROCK (INSTRUMENTAL REHEARSAL)
5. GYPSY IN HER EYES (INSTRUMENTAL REHEARSAL)
6. MY HEART GOES WITH YOU
7. FOBIDDEN (VOCAL DEMO WITH SOLO)
8. THAT TIME OF YEAR (VOCAL & KEYBOARD DEMO WITH SOLO)

Added: March 25th 2019
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Warrior II @ Cherry Red
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Language: english

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