Badlands (band)
Encyclopedia
Badlands was a short-lived rock band founded by former Ozzy Osbourne
guitarist Jake E. Lee
and former Black Sabbath
members Ray Gillen
and Eric Singer
. Badlands also featured bassist Greg Chaisson
. After the first Badlands album, Eric Singer was replaced by Jeff Martin
. The group lasted from 1988 to 1993 and released two albums, Badlands
(1989) and Voodoo Highway
(1991) before Gillen left and was replaced by singer John West
from New York. Ray's death in 1993 effectively ended any hopes of re-uniting the project. The album Dusk
(originally recorded in 1992 - 1993) was posthumously released in 1998.
in support of the Ultimate Sin
album, Lee was fired in a telegram from Sharon Osborne while working on one of his muscle cars back in Los Angeles. Lee was completely caught off guard at the time of his firing as he was under the impression he had a solid working gig with the Osborne camp. Wishing to distance himself as much as possible from his former boss, he set about looking for a charismatic front man with which to launch a new band. He found just that when he met Ray Gillen, a struggling vocalist who had just been separated from Black Sabbath
after a short time. Within weeks, the duo had enlisted bassist Greg Chaisson
and Gillen’s former Black Sabbath bandmate Eric Singer
on drums. With melodic sensibilities and solid chops, each member of the band proved a cornerstone creatively, while presenting energetic live shows with flawless musicality.
in June 1989 to good reviews. The band released videos for the songs "Dreams in the Dark" and the Zeppelin
-like "Winter’s Call," and both enjoyed decent airplay on MTV
. This boosted the album to its peak on Billboard’s
album charts at no. 57.
following the death of drummer Eric Carr
. Badlands picked up Jeff Martin
, former vocalist for Surgical Steel and Racer X to take over on drums, and the band released Voodoo Highway
in 1991. However, Badlands was slowly breaking apart at the seams. During the recording process, Lee accused Gillen of conspiring with their label to push the band in a more commercial direction. This subsequently led to Gillen being fired. However, since a tour of the UK had already been booked, the vocalist was temporarily re-admitted for its completion. Unfortunately, this wasn't well-publicised in the UK press and the tour attendance was possibly affected.
, who demanded a songwriter (Desmond Child
) be hired to help write songs with the band. Lee refused and stated "They'd rather make money touring than releasing an album they did not believe in." Meanwhile, Gillen had been writing his own material that the band could supposedly use and had called Atlantic to tell them he had three or four songs ready and that all had potential to be hits. However, the band had other ideas and refused to record them. Gillen called Atlantic again and told them that the band were not interested and that they needed to pressure the band into recording the songs. The band continued to refuse claiming the songs were of an average standard.
Due to changes in the Music Industry at that time ( the decline of Metal, while rap grew ) and band drama, Atlantic subsequently dropped them shortly after their second album was released. In addition, the dispute over the recorded Gillen material led him to quit the band with claims that Lee was a lazy musician, unlike his former band mate Tony Iommi
. Lee hired Debby Holiday to replace Gillen on their UK tour; however, Badlands drafted Gillen back in to complete the tour before finally exiting the band.
magazine to talk about the new vocalist. The majority of fans and listeners were still shocked at the news that a female soul singer had been chosen to replace Gillen. The interview with Lee was published in issue #399 and readers were shocked at the speed at which Lee and Gillen's friendship had fallen apart. Lee talked only briefly about Gillen's replacement and much of the article was based on Gillen's erratic behaviour. He also raised over Gillen's personal life. In issue 401, Gillen responded by addressing many of the points that Lee had made claiming them to be falsified or exaggerated. He spoke of the reason he had returned to the band and proceeded to call Lee a lazy musician and claimed Lee "couldn't wear Van Halen's socks, because if he could, we'd be writing good songs". He also talked briefly of his future endeavours.
. Just a few songs in, Gillen pulled out a copy of the Kerrang! magazine that had been released with Lee's story in it and shouted to the crowd "there's two sides to every story" while Lee stood there and mouthed "Its all true". Questions were being raised about whether the band would continue or whether Gillen and Lee would fight it out on stage there and then. However, the band did continue and played the rest of its set.
In Kerrang! issue #400, Neil Jeffries reviewed the gig and claimed that he had never seen a band with so much tension play so superbly. He praised Lee's guitar work and claimed the band were absolutely superb despite their obvious feuds. Despite all the tensions in the band, they proved ever a 'Musician's Favourite' group, prompting all with musical talent to attend as many of their shows as possible, due to their 'jam it out' live shows, never offering the same show twice.
. The band wrote and recorded some new songs, however, Atlantic Records had had enough and dropped the band from their label entirely. Gillen then appeared with George Lynch
’s solo band on the album Sacred Groove. Following that, he formed Sun Red Sun with guitarist Al Romano, former Alice in Chains
bassist Mike Starr
, and drummer Bobby Rondinelli
. But, just as the new group was off and running, Gillen was diagnosed with HIV
. On December 1, 1993, he died at his New Jersey home due to AIDS
-related complications. Ironically, John West
was brought in to finish the Sun Red Sun recordings, and in 1998 toured with George Lynch. Five years later, the unreleased Badlands album Dusk
was released in Japan.
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...
guitarist Jake E. Lee
Jake E. Lee
Jakey Lou Williams , commonly known as Jake E. Lee, is an American guitarist best known for playing with Ozzy Osbourne in the mid-1980s and later in his own band Badlands.- Musical education :...
and former Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
members Ray Gillen
Ray Gillen
Raymond A. "Ray" Gillen was an American rock singer, best known for his work with Badlands, in addition to his stint with Black Sabbath in the mid-1980s and recording most of the vocals on Phenomena's classic Dreamrunner album....
and Eric Singer
Eric Singer
Eric Doyle Mensinger , better known as Eric Singer, is a hard rock and heavy metal drummer for the rock band Kiss and formerly for singer Alice Cooper...
. Badlands also featured bassist Greg Chaisson
Greg Chaisson
Greg Chaisson is a bass guitarist who has been in various bands including Badlands, Surgical Steel , Legs Diamond, Blindside Blues Band, Die Happy, and Red Sea. He was also involved with the band Steeler, which was Yngwie Malmsteen's first American band and was started by Ron Keel. He currently...
. After the first Badlands album, Eric Singer was replaced by Jeff Martin
Jeff Martin (American musician)
Jeff Martin is a singer and drummer who has sung for the bands Surgical Steel, Racer X, Leatherwolf, and played drums for the bands Badlands, Blindside Blues Band, and RedSea....
. The group lasted from 1988 to 1993 and released two albums, Badlands
Badlands (album)
Badlands is the first album by the band of the same name. This album features Ray Gillen and Eric Singer, who previously played together in Black Sabbath. This album also features guitarist Jake E. Lee and bassist Greg Chaisson...
(1989) and Voodoo Highway
Voodoo Highway
Voodoo Highway is the second album of the band Badlands. After the first Badlands album, drummer Eric Singer left the band to join KISS, and was replaced by drummer Jeff Martin, who had previously sung lead vocals in the bands Surgical Steel and Racer X...
(1991) before Gillen left and was replaced by singer John West
John West (singer)
John West is an American musician.He was born in Syracuse, New York on October 29 and has sung for such bands as Artension, Royal Hunt, Badlands, Lynch Mob, Cozy Powell, Michael Lee Firkins, Yngwie Malmsteen, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, James Murphy, Marc Ferrari, Sun Red Sun, Many Moons, Rider and...
from New York. Ray's death in 1993 effectively ended any hopes of re-uniting the project. The album Dusk
Dusk (Badlands album)
Dusk is Badlands's third and final album. It was originally recorded in 1992-1993 as a demo to submit to their label.The demo tracks to Dusk were released posthumously on December 15, 1998.-Track listing:All tracks by Ray Gillen & Jake E...
(originally recorded in 1992 - 1993) was posthumously released in 1998.
Formation
After touring with Ozzy OsbourneOzzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...
in support of the Ultimate Sin
The Ultimate Sin
-Personnel:*Ozzy Osbourne - vocals*Jake E. Lee - guitar*Phil Soussan - bass*Randy Castillo - drumsAdditional performers*Mike Moran - keyboardsProduction*Produced and engineered by Ron Nevison*Additional engineers - Martin White, Richard Moakes...
album, Lee was fired in a telegram from Sharon Osborne while working on one of his muscle cars back in Los Angeles. Lee was completely caught off guard at the time of his firing as he was under the impression he had a solid working gig with the Osborne camp. Wishing to distance himself as much as possible from his former boss, he set about looking for a charismatic front man with which to launch a new band. He found just that when he met Ray Gillen, a struggling vocalist who had just been separated from Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
after a short time. Within weeks, the duo had enlisted bassist Greg Chaisson
Greg Chaisson
Greg Chaisson is a bass guitarist who has been in various bands including Badlands, Surgical Steel , Legs Diamond, Blindside Blues Band, Die Happy, and Red Sea. He was also involved with the band Steeler, which was Yngwie Malmsteen's first American band and was started by Ron Keel. He currently...
and Gillen’s former Black Sabbath bandmate Eric Singer
Eric Singer
Eric Doyle Mensinger , better known as Eric Singer, is a hard rock and heavy metal drummer for the rock band Kiss and formerly for singer Alice Cooper...
on drums. With melodic sensibilities and solid chops, each member of the band proved a cornerstone creatively, while presenting energetic live shows with flawless musicality.
Badlands
The band released BadlandsBadlands (album)
Badlands is the first album by the band of the same name. This album features Ray Gillen and Eric Singer, who previously played together in Black Sabbath. This album also features guitarist Jake E. Lee and bassist Greg Chaisson...
in June 1989 to good reviews. The band released videos for the songs "Dreams in the Dark" and the Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
-like "Winter’s Call," and both enjoyed decent airplay on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
. This boosted the album to its peak on Billboard’s
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
album charts at no. 57.
Voodoo Highway
Eric Singer soon quit Badlands and later joined Paul Stanley's solo club band which later earned him a new job with KISSKISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
following the death of drummer Eric Carr
Eric Carr
Paul Charles Caravello , also known as Eric Carr, was an American musician, best known as drummer for the rock band Kiss. Caravello was selected as the new Kiss drummer after Peter Criss left in 1980...
. Badlands picked up Jeff Martin
Jeff Martin (American musician)
Jeff Martin is a singer and drummer who has sung for the bands Surgical Steel, Racer X, Leatherwolf, and played drums for the bands Badlands, Blindside Blues Band, and RedSea....
, former vocalist for Surgical Steel and Racer X to take over on drums, and the band released Voodoo Highway
Voodoo Highway
Voodoo Highway is the second album of the band Badlands. After the first Badlands album, drummer Eric Singer left the band to join KISS, and was replaced by drummer Jeff Martin, who had previously sung lead vocals in the bands Surgical Steel and Racer X...
in 1991. However, Badlands was slowly breaking apart at the seams. During the recording process, Lee accused Gillen of conspiring with their label to push the band in a more commercial direction. This subsequently led to Gillen being fired. However, since a tour of the UK had already been booked, the vocalist was temporarily re-admitted for its completion. Unfortunately, this wasn't well-publicised in the UK press and the tour attendance was possibly affected.
Decline and breakup
While Voodoo Highway was being recorded and produced, band tensions began to rise. The band also refused to co-operate with Atlantic RecordsAtlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
, who demanded a songwriter (Desmond Child
Desmond Child
Desmond Child is an American musician, songwriter, and producer. He is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.-Career:...
) be hired to help write songs with the band. Lee refused and stated "They'd rather make money touring than releasing an album they did not believe in." Meanwhile, Gillen had been writing his own material that the band could supposedly use and had called Atlantic to tell them he had three or four songs ready and that all had potential to be hits. However, the band had other ideas and refused to record them. Gillen called Atlantic again and told them that the band were not interested and that they needed to pressure the band into recording the songs. The band continued to refuse claiming the songs were of an average standard.
Due to changes in the Music Industry at that time ( the decline of Metal, while rap grew ) and band drama, Atlantic subsequently dropped them shortly after their second album was released. In addition, the dispute over the recorded Gillen material led him to quit the band with claims that Lee was a lazy musician, unlike his former band mate Tony Iommi
Tony Iommi
Anthony Frank "Tony" Iommi is an English guitarist and songwriter best known as the founding member of pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and its sole continual member through multiple personnel changes.Iommi is widely recognised as one of the most important and influential guitarists in...
. Lee hired Debby Holiday to replace Gillen on their UK tour; however, Badlands drafted Gillen back in to complete the tour before finally exiting the band.
Kerrang! articles
After Gillen left the band and announced his replacement, Lee was contacted by Kerrang!Kerrang!
Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
magazine to talk about the new vocalist. The majority of fans and listeners were still shocked at the news that a female soul singer had been chosen to replace Gillen. The interview with Lee was published in issue #399 and readers were shocked at the speed at which Lee and Gillen's friendship had fallen apart. Lee talked only briefly about Gillen's replacement and much of the article was based on Gillen's erratic behaviour. He also raised over Gillen's personal life. In issue 401, Gillen responded by addressing many of the points that Lee had made claiming them to be falsified or exaggerated. He spoke of the reason he had returned to the band and proceeded to call Lee a lazy musician and claimed Lee "couldn't wear Van Halen's socks, because if he could, we'd be writing good songs". He also talked briefly of his future endeavours.
On-stage confrontation
On Thursday, July 2 the band played at the London AstoriaLondon Astoria
The London Astoria was a music venue, located at 157 Charing Cross Road, in London, England. It had been leased and run by Festival Republic since 2000. It was closed on 15 January 2009 and has since been demolished...
. Just a few songs in, Gillen pulled out a copy of the Kerrang! magazine that had been released with Lee's story in it and shouted to the crowd "there's two sides to every story" while Lee stood there and mouthed "Its all true". Questions were being raised about whether the band would continue or whether Gillen and Lee would fight it out on stage there and then. However, the band did continue and played the rest of its set.
In Kerrang! issue #400, Neil Jeffries reviewed the gig and claimed that he had never seen a band with so much tension play so superbly. He praised Lee's guitar work and claimed the band were absolutely superb despite their obvious feuds. Despite all the tensions in the band, they proved ever a 'Musician's Favourite' group, prompting all with musical talent to attend as many of their shows as possible, due to their 'jam it out' live shows, never offering the same show twice.
Gillen's death
After the UK tour was complete, Gillen was officially fired from the band. Lee insisted to the press that the band would continue with singer John WestJohn West (singer)
John West is an American musician.He was born in Syracuse, New York on October 29 and has sung for such bands as Artension, Royal Hunt, Badlands, Lynch Mob, Cozy Powell, Michael Lee Firkins, Yngwie Malmsteen, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, James Murphy, Marc Ferrari, Sun Red Sun, Many Moons, Rider and...
. The band wrote and recorded some new songs, however, Atlantic Records had had enough and dropped the band from their label entirely. Gillen then appeared with George Lynch
George Lynch (musician)
George Lynch is a hard rock/heavy metal guitarist best known as a member of the band Dokken, his own bands Lynch Mob and Souls of We.-Pre Dokken:...
’s solo band on the album Sacred Groove. Following that, he formed Sun Red Sun with guitarist Al Romano, former Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley. The initial lineup was rounded out by drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Starr...
bassist Mike Starr
Mike Starr (musician)
Michael Christopher "Mike" Starr was an American musician, best known as the original bassist in Alice in Chains, with whom he played from the band's formation in 1987 until 1993.- Career :...
, and drummer Bobby Rondinelli
Bobby Rondinelli
Bobby Rondinelli is a rock drummer best known for his work with the hard rock/heavy metal bands like Blue Öyster Cult, Rainbow, Quiet Riot, Black Sabbath, The Lizards, and Rondinelli.-Background:...
. But, just as the new group was off and running, Gillen was diagnosed with HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
. On December 1, 1993, he died at his New Jersey home due to AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
-related complications. Ironically, John West
John West (singer)
John West is an American musician.He was born in Syracuse, New York on October 29 and has sung for such bands as Artension, Royal Hunt, Badlands, Lynch Mob, Cozy Powell, Michael Lee Firkins, Yngwie Malmsteen, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, James Murphy, Marc Ferrari, Sun Red Sun, Many Moons, Rider and...
was brought in to finish the Sun Red Sun recordings, and in 1998 toured with George Lynch. Five years later, the unreleased Badlands album Dusk
Dusk (Badlands album)
Dusk is Badlands's third and final album. It was originally recorded in 1992-1993 as a demo to submit to their label.The demo tracks to Dusk were released posthumously on December 15, 1998.-Track listing:All tracks by Ray Gillen & Jake E...
was released in Japan.
Discography
| Date of Release | Title | Label | US Billboard Peak | UK Chart Peak | US sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 1989 | Badlands Badlands (album) Badlands is the first album by the band of the same name. This album features Ray Gillen and Eric Singer, who previously played together in Black Sabbath. This album also features guitarist Jake E. Lee and bassist Greg Chaisson... |
Atlantic Records Atlantic Records Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz... |
57 | 39 | 400,000 |
| June 1991 | Voodoo Highway Voodoo Highway Voodoo Highway is the second album of the band Badlands. After the first Badlands album, drummer Eric Singer left the band to join KISS, and was replaced by drummer Jeff Martin, who had previously sung lead vocals in the bands Surgical Steel and Racer X... |
140 | 74 | 100,000 | |
| December 15, 1998 | Dusk Dusk (Badlands album) Dusk is Badlands's third and final album. It was originally recorded in 1992-1993 as a demo to submit to their label.The demo tracks to Dusk were released posthumously on December 15, 1998.-Track listing:All tracks by Ray Gillen & Jake E... |
Pony Canyon Pony Canyon is a Japanese company, established on October 1, 1966 , which publishes music, DVD and VHS videos, movies and video games. It is a subsidiary of Japanese Media Group, Fujisankei Communications Group.-History:... |
Did not chart |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US Main Rock Mainstream Rock Tracks Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue... |
||
| 1989 | "Dreams in the Dark" | - | 38 |
| "Winter's Call" | - | - | |
| 1991 | "The Last Time" | - | - |