Brian James Fox

[erg2]

I was listening to some SILENT RAGE today. I bought this album unheard because Gene was the producer and at the time I bought anything "KISS related" as it came out. What is strange is that I bought their first, indie release at the same time. Gene took a pop-rock band and turned them into a run-of-the-mill hair-metal band.

Their first indie album had some interesting, hooky songs. The follow-up was filled with songs that never quite click. The lead single REBEL WITH A CAUSE is on both albums. It's a fun song with lots of energy but there's a showtune quality to it that prevents the band from feeling genuine...what some might call "posers". The version on the first album feels more real.

My favorite cut from these guys is their pop version of the ELO song CAN'T GET HER OUT OF MY HEAD. I was never a fan of ELO as I always felt they strangled and squashed the groove in all of their music. SILENT RAGE's take on this tune flows more naturally, but at the same time it has that same showtune quality that strips it of honest emotion.

SILENT RAGE has a unique double-KISS connection. Along with being produced by Gene Simmons, the drummer Brian James Fox originally played drums in the Mark St. John group, WHITE TIGER.

1) What does everyone think of SILENT RAGE?

2) What does everyone think of WHITE TIGER?

3) Has anybody heard of this rumored second album from WHITE TIGER titled RAW that was supposedly released in 1999? You can read a little about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_James_Fox

[wolfgang161272]

I've only have the first album from White Lion. Don't know that they've had a second !????
Interessting post

Wolfi

[doublev2]

My opinion of white tiger is that it was only to demo stage. It needed a producer and a re record but some songs were quite good. Great guitar work.

[doublev2]

It sounded a little like those mid 80s shrapnel records releases i think called American heros or somet

[erg2]

My opinion of white tiger is that it was only to demo stage. It needed a producer and a re record but some songs were quite good. Great guitar work.

It sounded a little like those mid 80s shrapnel records releases i think called American heros or somet

And you're talking about the unreleased second White Tiger album? Do you have a copy? I've searched for a while and never found a copy anywhere.

[doublev2]

No, I mean the 'year of the tiger' record

[doublev2]

A guy I bought a guitar off in the late 90s claimed st John was his teacher and the album was called 'roar' not 'raw' but I don't know.

[PinkWiz]

I remember reading about Silent Rage when Simmons Records first started. As far as the second White Tiger album, I've never even heard that mentioned until now. The songs on the first album were just ok, some cool moments but they did sound like unfinished demos. There's a difference between a cool, raw sound and a record's production just missing something... it sounded way too "tinny" and I wasn't the biggest fan of Donato's voice.

[poserboy71]

He makes a better pie.

[erg2]

I remember reading about Silent Rage when Simmons Records first started. As far as the second White Tiger album, I've never even heard that mentioned until now. The songs on the first album were just ok, some cool moments but they did sound like unfinished demos. There's a difference between a cool, raw sound and a record's production just missing something... it sounded way too "tinny" and I wasn't the biggest fan of Donato's voice.

Teaming with Donato was a huge mistake for St John. Bad songwriting, horribly nasal singing and just a weird looking guy for always claiming to be a male model. And the production WAS really bush-league. Even with all of that going against it, there are still a few very cool moments.

But as a "completist", it drives me crazy that a KISS related recording that I could own exists in the world...and I do not own it. It's a sickness...

[doublev2]

yeah the singer wasn't good. Too bad, not sure why it was released under such a low budget. I suppose he didn't get a good record deal with those songs.

[erg2]

Yeah. It's a shame because those couple of albums he released later in his life I thought were very listenable. If he could've made those in the 80's he might've actually made a blip on the metal radar.