When colleagues such as Mötley Crüe, Poison, LA Guns or Warrant achieved success with sold-out stadium concerts, million-selling albums and high rotation videos, TAZ had to settle for being “almost famous”.
It didn’t help that big producers like Kim Fowley (The Runaways, Candy) and Rob Cavallo (Black Sabbath,
Fleetwood Mac, Green Day, etc.) firmly believed in the band and even got and EP released in Japan – they did a tour there as well – or being featured in magazines like BURRN!, Kerrang!, Metal Edge and Metal Forces… TAZ remained an unsigned, but popular band in California.
Now Eonian Records is releasing a comprehensive TAZ collection, not only with their ’80s tapes under the title “Wake Up And Sweat”, but also this second volume “Shipwrecked”, featuring the band’s ’90s recordings digitally remastered by Anthony Foc (Buckcherry, The Dead Daisies).
On TAZ Vol.2 “Shipwrecked” we can hear an evident development. Still with that Britny Fox / Bang Tango style, there’s a more mature and experienced songwriting according to the LA hard rock sound from the early Nineties.
The first 3 tracks here title track ”Shipwrecked” (with a bit of Cinderella on it), ”No Relation” and ”Desert Dog Night” are taken from the band’s 1990 demo, showcasing edgy guitars and a groovin’ hard rock pulse. “Arizona River” has a cool melody, then “Lady Conniver” has a rather nice blues turn that brings to mind Great White.
“Where The Angels Play” rocks hard and has a similarity ‘Rocket Queen’ (Guns n’ Roses) sleazy, and a personal favorite comes with “Sink Or Swim”, which mixes a bit of Aerosmith’s Seventies into the mix.
All strong material, with singer KK Kleven delivering on this latter TAZ material an more raspy tone that reminds a little Tom Keifer.
The whole party is rounded off with six live recorded tracks where “LA Danger Zone” is the best – not only the sound quality is significantly better than the others, but here we also get a hint that TAZ could actually be a sharp live band.
If you’re a big fan of glam and hair metal, and have a special interest in the Eighties Sunset Strip scene, both TAZ releases by Eonian Records will please you.
01. Shipwrecked (4:27)
02. No Relation (4:30)
03. Desert Dog Night (5:14)
04. Father McGee (4:52)
05. Arizona River (3:15)
06. Day In, Day Out (Keep The Faith) (3:06)
07. Lady Conniver (4:55)
08. Where The Angels Play (3:54)
09. Sink Or Swim (4:56)
10. Day Of The Dog (3:03)
11. Luvin' Girl (3:50)
12. Dogtown (3:28)
13. Easy Come Easy Go (Live) (5:41)
14. Let It Rain (Live) (4:02)
15. Round, Round, Round (Live) (4:21)
16. Shoot Your Steam (Live) (4:10)
17. Cover Me In Roses (Live) (5:02)
18. L.A. Danger Zone (Live) (5:07)
Taz – Shipwrecked, Vol. 2 (2023) Digitally remastered eonian records, MP3+FLAC
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