ADRENALIN – ROAD OF THE GYPSY

I honestly don’t know where or when I got this LP. I have to assume I got it at Cheapo Records or Know Name Records, just thumbing through randoms and taking a chance based on the front and back cover alone. Over the years I’ve found the success rate is exponentially better when using that approach with LPs, as opposed to CDs. I can’t say I’ve ever done it with cassettes, though. But with that era-specific square foot of worn artwork, I can usually suss out if it’s worth a few bux or not. Viewed with that lens, this was the best $3 I’ve ever spent.

When I picked this LP out of my record bin at home at random and fired it on the turntable recently, these magically 80’s shaped doors that were marinated in obnoxiously gated reverb opened far and wide, and my senses were bombarded with absolute glory. It was awesome – there’s absolutely nothing like getting hit by a musical truck. It’s peak fulfillment to someone who treasures music as much as I do. I have to stop what I’m doing to listen…and smile, hands behind my head in a triumphant lean-back in the desk chair.

It was the total package. The songs, the production, the image, the record sleeve, the subject matter…my god, it was love at second or third listen. I say that because I did listen to this first about a year or so ago. It was a fun listen, but only like one song caught my ear then, the rest were just good background tunes. I just wasn’t in the right frame that day to fully appreciate, obviously. Vibes were off.

Amazing how something unlocked about a month ago and I’m obsessed with it. Extra fun, because this LP as presented isn’t on Spotify (although some tracks are with a different mix, from a once-previously shelved album), so I turn to the phonograph to enjoy it in its originally intended format.

BAND

You can have your Allman Brothers, your Van Halen brothers, your Abbott brothers, the Nelson twins…whatever. ADRENALIN has two sets of brothers. Checkmate.

LP ARTWORK

The cheese factor is a Costco-sized Velveeta brick out of 10, so in other words: PERFECT. It’s obvious why I bought this sound unheard. It has to be good if it looks like this.

A big question (okay, many questions) I have is if they held the back cover photo shoot at the Fox Theater in Detroit as mentioned in the credits, why didn’t they use a photo for the cover too? Why is it a Rick Rodolfo painting of them at what also appears to be the stage of the Fox Theater? (Those arches in the background sure scream Fox Theater.) It seems like this is a painting of a photo, so why not just use the photo, then? Why hire out another illustrator to paint the photo? Was the photo that bad? By all accounts it sure seemed like the late Ross Marino was a world class rock-photog, so I’m not sure that’d be the case. My curiosity is beyond piqued at this mystery.

While we’re questioning things, who’s the dame in the seats? Is she the Gypsy? It is 1986 though, so I suppose you can’t rule out that it could be Michael. Michael got his own song on the record too, so it would stand to reason that he’d have just as much rights to be the lone spectator as the Gypsy would. But I don’t think it’s Michael, I think it’s an unidentified woman.

Next, what’s the deal with the spilled beverage on the stage? Spilled milk, so it’s NBD and we’ll just ignore it while the painter does our portrait? Or is it a non-denominational silver beer can, so they look kinda, I dunno…band-y? Nah, maybe it’s one of those metal mixer cups that barkeeps use. But why? For photoshoot margarita shooters? Maybe it’s a pint glass? Just so hard to tell. Still don’t know why it’s there, though. But it’s intentional, I can tell that.

I can appreciate the mic cable strung about the stage, as it lends an authenticity to ADRENALIN being a bona-fide live band, not just some session whizzes tarted up a bit to look like a full-fledged band. That spilled beverage, though.

(Pertinent) CREDITS

VINI PONCIA – Producer

He did some KISS records that have aged decently, but at the time of release were musical departures and not always well-received, especially by die-hards that had managed to still hang on by then. That said, I think Unmasked is the most underrated record in the KISS canon by a moonshot (RIP Ace).

I’m 99% sure I would have noticed his production credit when I bought this LP, too.

BILL KENNEDY & GARTH RICHARDSON – Engineering Assistants

Those two immediately come to mind: Bill did Morbid Angel’s Domination and Garth Richardson (as “GGGarth”) did Testament’s Low, roughly a decade after this LP. Both monster metal albums well-worshiped by yours truly as a teen. Wasn’t on my bingo card that these worlds collided (I wish “callode” was a word I could use here instead btw), but this also exactly reflects my taste in records – death metal to 80’s pop.

SCOTT HUMPHREY: Emulator

This one cracked me up. For anyone who’s seen Metallica’s A Year And A Half In The Life Of, there’s a humorous part where the band is in Vancouver adding some overdubbed accoutrements, one of which is some keyboards for Nothing Else Matters. James is obviously apprehensive about it, while Lars is leaning into it a bit and making fun of their “new” sound. Anyway, the guy playing keyboards in the shot? Scott Humphrey.

DAVID PASTORIA: Drum Technician

JFC, there’s another Pastoria brother?! But not good enough to be in the band? Hmm. Ladies and gentlemen, Cooper Manning!

COVER CONCEPT: ADRENALIN

Whoa, whoa, whoa, so having someone paint the picture of a photo was the band’s idea? Or they’re getting credited for a “Hey, you should take a picture of us onstage” brainwave that surely no one’s ever thought of before, decades ago? I’m more confused now.

RICK RODOLFO: Cover Illustration

Ricky, I love ya babe, but those are the most disproportionate feet I’ve ever seen painted on an album cover. Literally ever. Not sure what else to tell ya there. I’m just not on board with the decision to hire an illustrator here, if I haven’t made myself clear yet. I’m sure your portfolio’s great though.

ROSS MARINO: Album Design and Photography

Wait, hiring a painter to paint the band photo was the photographer’s idea, and not the band’s now? Or is it just the back cover with the gothic portraits? If the band got credit for a paint-by-numbers concept, you’d think Ross would specify that he had no hand in that painting. I dunno. I’d say I’m prolly overthinking it, but I feel like you’ve prolly already long come to that conclusion yourself if you’ve read this far.

JIMI PALAZZOLO, TRACY and JULIE HANKES: Stylists

These fuckers earned their dough and then some, if you ask me. This humble band from Detroit literally looks like they could all be in Yngwie Malmsteen’s touring band. SIGN. ME. THE. FUCK. UP! Pirate shirts! Hairspray! Belts over shiny button-up shirts! Gold chains! Headbands! MULLETS! Fucking hell, looking like that and having two guitar players, a sax player, and a keyboard player…who KNOWS what they were gonna sound like (when I bought the record)? Absolute magic, is what. They get Da Real MVP for support staff if you ask me (I acknowledge that you didn’t).

SONGS

Side A:

ROAD OF THE GYPSY

Such a perfect 80’s soundtrack song. I haven’t even seen the movie it’s from, and it doesn’t matter. Louis Gossett Jr. is in it, I guess. Dunno, don’t need to see it (I’d prolly unfairly compare it to Top Gun if I tried). The emotional roller coaster of life and as we find out, especially the Gypsy, is a rough ride. But ultimately, I, on the Road of the Gypsy, will persevere!

There’s some interesting bass work during the pre-chorus. Bruce is really going for it – not typical in a power ballad for a bass player. His sound on this song is a lot different from the others on the LP though. It stands to reason that the soundtrack was the impetus for the full-length record through MCA, as some of the songs had been previously released. So I’m sure this song was a part of a whole different recording sesh that got grafted on with the other pre-existing tracks.

I think that’s a wonderful sax solo – in and out in just a few bars. Pretty aggressive in delivery though really, those notes would sound pretty kickass on a guitar through a cranked Marshall. I really miss the time when the saxophone really was the most emotive instrument in pop rock.

The main keyboard theme just makes me think of Born To Run the whole time, and really, Marc-with-a-C Gilbert’s husky voice does evoke a bit of The Boss at times. Although Marc-with-a-C is clearly a much more gifted singer in a technical sense, there’s no question there. But still, Boss vibes.

The Bruce Dickinson soccer chant right before the fade-out at the end is magnificent, and I wish I could be in one of the first few rows at Harpo’s bellowing along, me being slightly flat from the proper pitch as usual. Never gonna deny my E for effort, though.

NORTHERN SHORES

Such a lovely wet-wash to start; I love that kind of kickoff. Then another modulated guitar arpeggio to take off from there. Mmm. That’s a very soothing sound to my ears, and that’s even before the vocal.

And that vocal. That vibrato in that husky voice…and the ascension during the pre-chorus, only to back off on the dynamics for the first chorus is amazing songwriting. Builds tension perfectly!

How much fun is that boppy 8^th note bass, though? Another bass player could have easily gone the other way and slowed it down, and it would have completely changed the vibe of the song. That might’ve turned out okay, I guess. But I think that Bruce chose wisely here, going upbeat. If we were NBA players in a layup line, I’d run over to give him an enthusiastic chest bump for his efforts. If I were Brett Favre, I’d slap his butt in appreciation (and then commit fraud).

Another super brief sax solo! This one is a little more lilting.

(Btw, super proud of myself for dropping “lilting” a sentence with no thesaurus needed. I even know where I got that word – a review of The Gathering’s live record, Superheat. I’ve literally been sitting on that adjective for 25 frickin’ years. Good to see my brain’s RAM still works, but I may also need help.)

Flash has gotta be having a ball on this song onstage. Just these manic stabs of chords, with plenty of room for Townshend windmilling during the pre-chorus. Shit, with all due respect, to hell with Flash. I’d be having a ball with this song onstage. Lucky, he gets to write it too. Check your privilege, you Flash bastard.

That sax theme just before the fade-out once again leaves me wanting more! This will become a recurring thing with these dudes.

Plus, I kinda wanna dance like that guy from the Enchantment Under The Sea Dance scene in Back To The Future when I hear the ending sax part. Oh, you know…that scene in the movie when the camera pans overhead at the crowd of teenagers on the dance floor during Johnny B. Goode, and then you see the guy laying back on the floor, snapping his fingers? Come on, you know the guy I’m talking about. Does that guy know how to party, or what?! Look at at how much fun he’s having. I aspire to be him IRL.

BROKEN HEARTED BOUND

Gotta have the token pedaled keyboard intro. Toto, Bon Jovi, Aldo Nova…you know the type I’m talking about. It was cliche, but who cares. It was also effective to varying degrees – adding suspense and motor to pique your interest when executed well.

After that, the perfect palate cleanser – that’s the kind of sax melodies more songs need to kick off with.

Great rhymes in this one, with perfectly matching melodies. Fucking killer chorus. The velocity in Marc-with-a-C’s voice just makes me want to make a rockfist and furrow the brow of intensity along with it.

Love the back-down to half-time in the bridge, once again great job in moving dynamics up and down. All the instruments get a sec or two to shine during these few bars and somehow, they don’t step all over each other. That’s some under-reported talent, right there. That is not easy to do at all. Good show, chaps.

SUMMER NIGHTS

Such a weird keyboard sound to start with those heavily gated drums. Where is this song going? I like the energy, but this is the weakest on the record, seems like an attempt at another soundtrack song. Sounds contrived, to me. Lyrics, melody, and delivery are all kind of pedestrian. The chorus isn’t bad, but those goddamn honky keyboards are distracting. A bizarre choice for tone, but the fuck do I know? These dudes were in Adrenalin. My recording experience usually centered around poorly intonated guitars and therefore sub-par results that’s jarring to the listener. The fuck do I know?

Sax solo wails though. But like, truly wails, though. There’s one note where he sounds like he’s actually screaming with his voice, but it’s the sax. Can’t get much more emotive than that. I’d love to see how that’s done with a reed, since I’m no sax player. It reminds me of some sort of Eddie Van Halen guitar trick, like when he can make a guitar sound like a neighing horse or something. I’m a sucker for showmanship, what can I say?

But it’s not nearly not enough to save the song. The sonics don’t do it justice either, I realize this was firmly 1986 but those drums just sound like utter toss throughout. Disagree with Vini’s production choices here.

Side B:

FARAWAY EYES

This song is an absolute fucking slammer. The intro gets things started properly with that driving bassline, accoutred with the comforting wash of the classic cranked Marshall JCM800 overdriven roar shortly thereafter. I’m hypothesizing that’s our man Flash, coming in hot from the top rope with the riff sizzle. I will never tire of that sound, ever.

Then that keyboard melody! Oh man! Let’s go! This definitely means we’re under way. This is a well-oiled rocket ship, with designated stages of propulsion during liftoff. Songwriting masterclass in progress right here, everyone.

The “came into my life” hook laid over the corresponding chords is an instant head-turner. Like, I dig where that goes, both with the melody of it and the how it’s phrased. The vocal delivery is so polished; his ability to harness and control his pitch is duly impressive during the frenzied pace of the pre-chorus. It’s got some (focused) Joe Cocker fury to it. You can hear that he’s coming from the diaphragm. It’s fuckin’ rippin’.

Then the harmonies come in for the second verse – this is a talented vocal band, that doesn’t sound like it’s just Marc-with-a-C layering the shit out of his own voice with overdubs. You can tell that most or all of these dudes could actually sing. Like, all grew up doing choir or some shit and just have it in their back pocket when they need to a deploy a nuke on the world like Faraway Eyes later in life. Brill.

Oh wait, that’s them doing the anthem a cappella before a baseball game at Tiger Stadium, so yeah. They can sing. Rad!

Oooh, a little Vini Poncia production fun for the bridge before the chorus. Trippy! Jazz hands!

I can picture the absolute glee that must’ve been on the Romeo Brothers faces during these guitar and then sax solos. The note choices and dynamics just scream facial histrionics, and if there’s anything Brian Bosworth taught us in the 80’s, it’s that anything less would be uncivilized. Another thing I like about these dudes and their solos is that they get in and get out; they always leave me wanting to hear them expand on it a bit more. Music that makes me actually crave is the best.

The outro solo is pure chef’s kiss…and ended with a pick scrape. Heaven.

THE KID’S GOT A WILL TO LIVE

WAT

That riff! WAT

That riff combined with the drum and busy bass pattern! WAT

My head bobs like a goddamned pigeon to this hook! The vibrato/quarter bend on the guitar is just perfect, subtle but still kinda not at the same time. I actually had to grab a guitar and figure out how to play this one right from the off, it sounded simple enough to figure out and satisfying as fuck to jam along to, given that it’s such a central theme throughout.

The bass guitar tone is really interesting to me too, our guy Bruce clearly uses a pick, so it’s got a much more distinct attack to each note and it really cuts through the mix. His bass tone reminds me a helluva lot of David Ellefson, of all people. (For real, listen to any track on the Peace Sells record and come back to this. I think we’d agree if you did.) I know David also uses the top of his index fingernail along with the pick, and that gives it a particularly distinct attack. Wonder if that was the case with Bruce too?

Speaking of vibrato…the last note of those first couple choruses…my word, Marc-with-a-C. That’s how it’s done. Sing me the phone book if you end every phrase like that!

The ascending choice of notes for the sax solo perfectly compliments the theme of the lyrics, kind of a triumph-through-adversity vibe. These guys are jesus christing brilliant. I wanna have a bonfire with them, a sax, and an Ovation acoustic.

THE PRESSURE’S ON

If Summer Nights is the weakest track, I’d consider this one to be the second weakest. That said, it’s a perfectly serviceable slab of 1986 radio. The heavily-gated reverb drums, the keyboard beds, the harmony vocals in the prechorus…but the hooks just aren’t there vocally. The intro riff is kind of limp, too.

That said, my god, Michael Romeo has great guitar tone! Love his solo, moreso for how he plays the notes than the notes themselves. He has a certain way of picking that I can hear; it’s legato in his fretting hand, but there’s a certain percussiveness to his right hand, makes me think he picks with a closed-fist style, as opposed to some players who hold their guitar picks while making an upside-down “ok” hand shape. I dunno, hard to describe but that’s how I visualize it.

The song has its moments, but it just gives me the vibe that it needed more time to workshop and tweak a bit. Iron out the somewhat awkward parts.

MICHAEL

Hill Street Blues! That was and continues to be my initial thought every single time I hear that intro. (Good reminder as any to learn the HSB lick on guitar to have in my back pocket, just in case I can bust it out the next time I run into Steven Bochco at Guitar Center.)

Michael. That’s a really odd title. I can’t really see Huey Lewis putting out a song called Beauregard, but the night is young, I suppose.

So why is it called Michael, then? Hmm. Hill Street Blues mixed with Michael, Row the Boat Ashore, apparently. Rather than acknowledge that the song is about the latter, I’m going to choose to believe there wasn’t already a Michael, Row the Boat Ashore precedent (even though he sings the exact fucking phrase in the song).

No, I choose to believe that Marc-with-a-C Gilbert just concocted an 80’s pop-rock song about some dude named Michael and his merry crew of reveling mariners drunk off their tits and rowing all over the place, because it’s super dark out now and they’re too drunk to do anything but row in circles. Finally, Michael, who’s only imbibed a fifth of whiskey compared to his much thirstier crew, sobered up enough to stagger to the front to grab the one good oar left to get this luxury liner to shore so they can sleep this one off and laugh about it in a couple days when the hangover’s finally done. (I am elite at run-on sentences.)

Michael, please row the boat ashore
Fill me with the strength
Cool me with a drink
That’ll take us to the shore

Or, thereabouts. You can have your Civil War and religious origin stories. I find mine a little more relatable and compelling.

Frankly, I’m just annoyed that I don’t have any good buddies named Michael that I can torment by singing their name like the song every time I see them, to the point where they’d seek out this obscure LP to figure out exactly why I’m doing that.

I do have an Uncle Mike, but I can’t see doing that to him. It’s gotta be a buddy I can razz. I’m not going to razz my Uncle Mike. Although I really should, because Uncle Mike prefers the Rod Evans era of Deep Purple and I just can’t reconcile Evans over Gillan or Coverdale. I could see Joe Lynn Turner not being his bag, but come on, man. Rod Evans? Matter of fact, I need to exhume this conversation with him, I haven’t talked Deep Purple with the guy in decades now that I think about it. That’s kind of fucked up. I should talk more Deep Purple with my relatives.

PHOTOGRAPH (TIME PASSES ON)

As a Danzig fan from my teen years, I nearly fell off my chair when I first heard the opening riff. That’s (basically) the same intro! (IFYKYK) I mean, it’s not like Danzig has the patent on the G-A-B chord progression, but…you have to acknowledge that it’s at a bare minimum patent pending. Another happy coincidence though, I love that kind of shit.

But Marc-with-a-K quickly changes the vibe from enormous gothic man-boobies and horned belt buckles the size of an entire buttcheek with his keyboards. It’s an unexpected sound, almost like a Fender Rhodes electric piano, or maybe a Hammond organ. But when the whole band kicks in, it’s an electric car that’s all torque going from 0-60 in 3 seconds. The rhythm section does exactly as it’s supposed to, and provides a real pulsing type of thrust. And again, with David Ellefson from Megadeth on bass. I just can’t ignore how much Bruce’s bass tone reminds me of Ellefson.

The rhyming isn’t exactly ancient Greek philosophy, but it sure nails it in a pop context. It’s very catchy, very logical in where it goes, and it really hands you off to the next lyric well. The delivery once again is so polished between the cadence and the melody. It just feels so natural, so either they rehearsed the living shit out of it, or these guys really have an innate sense of pocket and how it all fits together.

Massive chorus. Why didn’t I fucking hear this on the radio every 40 minutes on my local KDWB 101.3 and WLOL 99.5 when this came out? My fucking god, this should have been a bona fide Heatseeker on the Billboard chart at a minimum.

Hold up – a fucking BOSS bass solo, too?! I had no idea I needed this in my life so badly. Ironically, this is where he sounds like David Ellefson the least. And that’s great, it makes it way easier to picture the faces he’s making and the shapes he’s throwing as he actually gets to part the singer/guitar players seas and step to the front and center stage for his moment. Go Bruce, it’s your birthday, show them just what that party-in-the-back portion of your mullet is capable of!

One notch on the list of very many dorky things that I’m irrationally into is song titles with parenthesis. That alone can make my brain run amok, because whatever was parenthesized was clearly way too important to leave out of the title. But many times that part is just slapped on because the song title doesn’t mention the chorus. I need to navigate that and think about the intentions with the decision there.

In closing, I hope you can enjoy this record even a sliver as much as I do. Because…it’s hard to find.

There’s a small amount of live footage available on their channel on Youtube, and it’s such a bummer that I was born 10 years too late. This would have been a killer band to see live.

https://www.youtube.com/@adrenalinarchives5835

There’s also a fabulous website that details the history of Adrenalin, this is a great read if interested in the band. Since it’s so comprehensive, I tried to avoid covering the same ground as there, so I just tried to focus on this particular LP.

https://michiganrockandrolllegends.com/hall-of-fame/artists/290-adrenalin

Thanks for reading…

XOXO