FLAME
Flame (Giant ) 1992
1. "Razor Blade Road (Prelude)" (:46)
2. "Rain" (4:35)
3. "Electraglide" (4:14)
4. "Wild One" (4:52)
5. "Don't Look Down" (4:38)
6. "Wonderland" (6:00)
7. "Shelter You" (5:04)
8. "If You Had a Heart" (4:29)
9. "Never Say Die" (3:56)
10. "Ball and Chain" (5:16)
11. "Blood for Blood" (4:02)
12. "Desperate Heart " ( 5:15)
13. "Automatic" (3:42)
14. "Razor Blade Road (Reprise)" (2:44)
Flame's 1992 self titled CD was actually their second release, although it was their first to receive major distribution. Flame came out of the same school of bluesy hard rock as bands like Great White, Tesla, Kingdom Come and even Zebra. Unfortunately what this band lacks is distinction. They don't have anything that makes them stand out among the pack, which is probably why they didn't make more of a wave in '92 when this was released. However, that's not to say that this is a bad CD. Far from it actually. They have a smooth 1980's, glossy sound that is accentuated by good musicianship and the superb lead vocals Phillip Andrew. I'm actually surprise that the bluesy ballad "Never Say Die" didn't get picked as a single from this album as it sounds like a picture perfect song for rock radio in the early 90's before the grunge invasion.
think one thing that might have helped this CD overall is if the band had picked the best 10 songs and scrapped the rest, or used them as b-sides. Personally, I think since the CD age, that a lot of bands have this problem. In 1970's bands usually had 4 to 5 song on each side of the record, for a total of 8 to 10 songs. Rarely a band like Pink Floyd would release a double studio record with 20 tracks, yet they were a season band working with a seasoned producer. Since the late 80's and especially through the 1990's, bands were putting upwards of 14 t o 17 songs on their albums, but they didn't really have strong enough strong material throughout so it became a chore to listen to, even if a lot of the album was real strong. I think that might be the case here. Certainly there are some great songs, but I did find it hard to listen to this CD all the way through the first few times.