Tora Tora - Wild America
In the late 80's Tora Tora signed with A&M Records and released their debut album "Surprise Attack" in 1989. The album made a minor stir at the Billboard chart peaking at number 47. "Wild America" was released in 1992 to critical acclaim, but at that time the music business had changed and therefore this album is an overlooked gem.

Tora Tora hails from Memphis, Tennessee and their bluesy Hard Rock was far away from the flashy sunset strip scene that was happening at the time. Tora Tora uses piano and a horn section on Dead Mans Hand, which underlines their blues roots originated in Memphis.

Tora Tora worked with some heavyweight co-writers like Taylor Rhodes and Stan Bush. Amnesia has a good drive, but is not a typical Taylor Rhodes melodic super track.

However, Taylor Rhodes braces himself as co-writer on the great power ballad Faith Healer. The song has a characteristic sing-a-long chorus and fantastic choir (Jimi Jamison of Survivor is among backing vocals contributors).

The best song on the album is credited the band alone. The fantastic ballad As Time Goes By sounds like a successful marriage between Tesla and Aerosmith. Anthony Corder's vocals provide the song with lots of emotion, which is supported by the warm sound of the album. The acoustic driven As Time Goes By is timeless and definitely the musical treasure of this album

The change between acoustic and electric guitars is the trademark of the album. The songs are based in blues, but blended with hard rock and put together in great arrangements. Usually the songs are based on a great riff, which is perfectly exemplified on Lay Your Money Down and Dirty Secrets.

Anthony Corder is a strong singer and his voice has a special tone to it - a bit like Jeff Keith from Tesla. but Corder proves to be a more powerful singer. Throughout the whole record guitarist Keith Douglas proves to be very skilled and his riffs sound original. Douglas' playing is diversified - he handles the electric on the fast rocker Shattered and displays emotional acoustic playing on "Wild America's two highlights As Time Goes By and Faith Healer.

Unfortunately all Tora Tora members have disappeared from the music business. They were all very talented as musicians but also as songwriters.

Wild America" has not been available for some 10 years, but now Lemon Recordings has released the album with a bonus 12"remix of the title track. As always with Lemon releases, the packing is great with liner notes and a great remastered sound.

Written by Michael
Saturday, November 5, 2005
Show all reviews by Michael

Ratings

Michael: 7/10

Members: No members have rated this album yet.


This article has been shown 6090 times. Go to the complete list.



RevelationZ Comments


Comment by ThraX (Member) - Friday, November 11, 2005
Profile picture

View Profile


Comments: 135
Ratings: 0
One of the best albums ever!

Posted by ThraX
Friday, November 11, 2005

Comment by x (Anonymous) - Sunday, December 4, 2005
go and fuck you and tora tora











Review by Michael

Released by
A&M Records - 1992

Tracklisting
01 - Wild America
02 - Amnesia
03 - Dead Mans Hand
04 - As Time Goes By
05 - Lay Your Money Down
06 - Shattered
07 - Dirt Secrets
08 - Faith Healer
09 - Cold Fever
10 - Nowhere To Go But Down
11 - City Of Kings
Bonus Track
12 -Wild America (Remix)


Supplied by Lemon Recordings


Re-issued in 2005 by Lemon Recordings


Style
Bluesy Hard Rock

Related links
Visit the band page

Other articles
Revolution Day - (Michael)



Z supported shopping






Ratings
1 - Horrifying
2 - Terrible
3 - Bad
4 - Below average
5 - Average
6 - Good
7 - Very good
8 - Outstanding
9 - Genius
10 - Masterpiece
666 - Unrated

More details...


Daily Spotlight
D:A:D - Riskin' It All
CoverThis was my first D:A:D album and in fact the first time I really started taking notice of Rock music back in the day. 1991 t....
Read full review















Retro Reviews

(Hashman)
Lizzy Borden - Visual Lies (Remastered/Expanded)
CoverOriginally released towards the end of the 80's underground metal scene in the United States, Lizzy Borden brought forth yet another album of raw, melodic, and spontaneous metal, and made its mark in ....
Read full review






(Steen)
Savatage - Streets - A Rock Opera
CoverLet me say right from the start that this is my favorite album of all time, so there will be no holds barred in this review. I'm a man on a mission, and that is to explain to you exactly why I think t....
Read full review








Archive
 · Albums of the month
 · Retro Reviews
































Back to the top - © 2002-2011 RevelationZ Magazine - Back to the top