Murderer’s Row

Murderer’s Row

Killer on the loose again. The mid-90s was perhaps not the best time for bands peddling classic melodic rock, but there’s no denying the formidable talent in Murderer’s Row, a supergroup comprising David Glen Eisley, Bob Kulick, Jimmy Waldo, Chuck Wright and Jay Schellen.

Principally Kulick and Waldo’s hard-rocking baby, Murderer’s Row’s self-titled only album was originally intended to be the second Blackthorne one. Instead, with ex-Giuffria/Dirty White

Boy vocalist Eisley at the mic (in place of Graham Bonnet), Murderer’s Row established their own identity and in ’97 released a tough yet defiantly hook-laden rock album via a little-known Japanese label. However, so complete was its disappearance at the time that this reissue could be seen as the debut the album never enjoyed.

It comes with the bonus of rough mixes of all the tracks, which is nice but a bit pointless. The main attraction is that, at last, Hangman’s Moon, Blood On Fire and the bonkers-fast Overdrive can be cranked up to 11 to better feel the white-hot heat of Kulick’s demented riffing and Eisley’s oh-so-macho bellowing. Whether you opt for the looser rough mixes or the

polished and gleaming end product, Murderer’s Row were undoubtedly a class act.