Year : 1986 (FNA Remastered Edition 2019)
Style : Melodic Hard Rock , Melodic Heavy Metal
Country : United States
Audio : 320 kbps + front
Size : 162 mb
Bio:
It was 1985. Frontman/rhythm guitar player Gregg Lee and drummer John (Jet) Matthews had recently split from the popular cover band Justin Morgan that Lee had started in his parents basement his senior year in high school. Dissatisfied with touring the Midwest on the cover circuit, the two joined forces and began drawing up plans for the Initial Attack of the band AIRSTRIKE.Having left Justin Morgan two years prior to Matthews, Lee had been writing songs on his Fostex 4-track cassette recorder and presented the idea. The two enlisted long-time friend and guitar player Stan Liberty to record several demos in an old farm house that became a make-shift studio using that Fostex recorder and mixing down to an 1/8 inch tape machine.Liberty who is currently lead guitar with Lee in the band Paisty Jenny was unable to continue with the project, so Matthews and Lee began the search for the next axe-man and a bass player.Andy (Lucky Strike) Melendez, who had recently worked with Tommy Shaw (Styx) in an area project called Mainstreet was offered the roll of bass guitar. Melendez and his instrument were inseparable. He was known to ride his bike in downtown Lincoln with his Fender P Bass strapped to his back. His personality and his love for music were one in the same.Answering a Help Wanted ad in the newspaper, 18 year-old guitar player Kurt (Krome) Griffey from Red Oak, Iowa skipped his high school state track meet to audition for the project. The foursome was solidified and began intense rehearsals to record what is now the highly sought-after LP Initial Attack.The band released only 100 vinyl copies and 300 cassette tapes in 1986, and toured for 2.5 years. During that time a few other musicians were added to the mix in various positions. Michael Babb filled keyboard parts, Ronnie Moore covered guitar and vocals, and Christian Scalaro beat the drums for the last year.The demise of the band took place in Cincinnati, Ohio when Lee was involved in a car accident that put things on hold for 9 months. During that time, Nick St Nicholas (Steppenwolf) asked Lee to front his project called The Wolf, which Lee turned down due to his injuries. St. Nick then hired the other Airstrike players and the rest is history.Gregg Lee went on to co-create Cowboy X, an FnA artist, and to tour and release 5 CDs with his current band, Top 100 and Grammy-considered, Paisty Jenny. He is also a voting member of the Recording Academy. John (Jet) Mathews spent 20 years performing with Omaha-based On the Fritz and is currently recording a CD with his band 1 Track Mind, in which Stan Liberty plays lead guitar. Andy (Lucky Strike) Melendez relocated to Nashville and toured with major recording artist, Lacy J Dalton. Kurt (Krome) Griffey relocated to California and has worked with members of the Eagles, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Foreigner, Santana and Journey.
Album:
Some weeks ago we featured here the unreleased recordings from Nebraska based melodic hard rock band Cowboy X. During the '80s Cowboy X vocalist was part of AIRSTRIKE, which managed to record a mini-LP. Now Cowboy X's front man Gregg Lee has arranged with FnA Records to release his pre-Cowboy X band Airstrike recordings; "Initial Attack [Remastered +10]".The CD includes Airstrike's extremely rare and sought after album mini-LP titled "Initial Attack" originally released in 1986, plus 10 tracks of never before released material to bring the total track count to 18.Formed in 1985, Airstrike was Gregg Lee (Vocals), Kurt Griffey (Guitars), Andy 'Lucky Strike' Melendez (Bass), and John Jet Matthews (Drums). They would spend the next two and a half years touring up and down the Midwest. It was during this time the band began work on the songs that would become their "Initial Attack" mini-LP.The album itself was a limited release upon its original 1986 pressing, with only 100 vinyl and 300 cassettes being produced.The end of the band came in Cincinnati, Ohio, with Gregg Lee being involved in a car accident that sidelined him for the next 9 months. With the rest of Airstrike moving on to other projects during this time, Gregg later founded Cowboy X.Originally a private release, "Initial Attack" has a decent production with the typical mid-Eighties US melodic hard rock sound and style. It's quite 'pure', not with glam / hair influences into the sound.Among the best cuts there's the quite catchy 'You'll Get Your Way', 'Right Before Your Eyes', and 'High Heels Low Deals', in a style like a mix of Helix and Icon. There's the obligatory power ballad in 'She's Still Going', however I think these guys were better with the rocking tunes.To complete the release you have 10 bonus tracks, all demos taped between 1985 - 1988. Quality varies, not only audio / production speaking, but also songwriting. Overall interesting, listenable stuff."Initial Attack" has been part of 'collectors wanted lists' for decades, that kind of 'private indies' so hard to get. Now finally gets released with a bunch of other Airstrike never released songs.Very cool collectible.
Line Up:
Gregg Lee - Vocals (Ex-Cowboy X)
Kurt (Krome) Griffey - Guitars
Andy (Lucky Strike) Melendez - Bass
John (Jet) Matthews - Drums
Tracklist:
01 - Initial Attack
02 - You'll Get Your Way
03 - High Heels Low Deals
04 - Right Before Your Eyes
05 - Aimin For The Heart
06 - Angel Of Pain
07 - Shes Still Going
08 - DMZ
09 - Aimin' For The Heart (Demo) (Bonus Track)
10 - Anytime Love (Demo) (Bonus Track)
11 - Call Of The Wild (Demo) (Bonus Track)
12 - Fairytale Love Affair (Bonus Track)
13 - High Heels Low Deals (Demo) (Bonus Track)
14 - Teaser (Demo) (Bonus Track)
15 - Whatcha Doin' Tonight (Demo) (Bonus Track)
16 - Angel Of Pain (Live) (Bonus Track)
17 - Aimin' For The Heart (Live) (Bonus Track)
18 - Livin For The Women (Live) (Bonus Track)
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