Trial By Fire (1996)
1. Message of Love
2. One More
3. When You Love a Woman
4. If He Should Break Your Heart
5. Forever in Blue
6. Castles Buring
7. Don't Be Down On Me Baby
8. Still She Cries
9. Colors of the Spirit
10.When I Think of You
11.Easy to Fall
12.Can't Tame the Lion
13.It's Just the Rain
14.Trial By Fire
15.Baby I'm a Leavin' You (Hidden Track)
Talk about a disappointment. In the
mid 1990's, classic rock acts everywhere were reuniting and touring, so
obviously expectations were very high when arguably the best of
the lot was reuniting without any new, unheard of, members. So the
"classic" lineup of this "classic" band were back together. Somehow,
someway, they managed to deliver a hard thud of a clunker.
This album goes wrong in so many ways. First, the production is awful.
It seems as though the instruments are buried too deep in the mix to
make a powerful statement - something essential for a comeback album of
such sorts. The opening track Message of Love is, at first, a
major embarrassment. It only becomes "better" later when it's obvious
that this letdown is one of the best songs on the album. It tries so
hard to replicate Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) from Frontiers, that the true fan can only shake
their head because the similarities are just too strong. I can't listen
to the keyboard/synthesizer solo side by side with the original and tell much of a difference at all.
The real disappointment, however, is the songs just aren't any good.
I'm not sure what they were trying to do with these songs. Most
of them just don't sound like any care went into them, and you have to
wonder if anyone connected to the band bothered to actually
listen to this album before it was released on the unsuspecting
public. The bulk of the songs sound as though they're trying to emulate
the "classic art" phase popular several years ago. A bit strange
because even though this music was in vogue at one point, never
did these try to go after that "artsy" sound.
The main saving grace is Steve Perry's voice. Note I did not say "Steve
Perry". Since he was mostly the creative lead in the band, it might
have been his fault that the final product sounds as poor as it
does. But he still sounds like Steve Perry, so when the music isn't too
overbearing, he actually makes a couple of the songs sound pleasant.
The best songs here, When You Love a Woman and Don't Be Down
on Me Baby probably excel because the music isn't so crunchy, and we
mainly hear Steve croon so well. It's also extremely ironic when another
one of the strongest cuts, Baby I'm a Leavin' You is a hidden track
that doesn't even appear on the credits. Yeah, something was wrong.
Politics, apparently, hadn't improved. Perry found another excuse not
to tour for its release causing him to be replaced. A move that was
never truly welcomed by the fans, but to give the other guys credit, the
replacements (and to this date there have been three) always sounded
remarkably similar to him. Plus, they would put out some better
releases with new lineups than this in the future. Not something in
itself too remarkable, but some were, in fact, pretty good.
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