Union

Union | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 24, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Mayhem Records
• ASIN: B0000064ZC
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #45,488 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Old Man Wise

2. Around Again

3. Pain Behind Your Eyes

4. Love (I Don't Need It Anymore)

5. Heavy D

6. Let It Flow

7. Empty Soul

8. October Morning Wind

9. Get Off My Cloud

10. Tangerine

11. Robin's Song

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Straightforward Rock N Roll, December 3, 2002

By 

Doesn't Matter (New York City, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Union (Audio CD)

Union brought together former Kiss guitarist Bruce Kulick and former Motley Crue singer John Corabi with drummer Brent Fitz and bassist Jamie Hunting.

Union puts together a great, straight ahead, no BS rock sound. For people that sit and whine about `novelty' in rock, Union could easily be your answer. There is no pretense in Union, no goofy costumes, no obnoxious condescending behavior. Nothing but great hard rock music. Imagine that. This is the band people seem to be begging for, yet no one knows about Union. The closest mainstream bands with a sound and style similar to Union would have to be Live, Fuel and Creed. But unlike some of those bands, no holier than thou rock star garbage here. Again, just great hard rock music. Imagine that, again. When listening to the album, it's almost impossible to say that it fits any specific time period or style, this could have been released anytime between 1973 and today.

The album contains many stellar hard rock songs, like "Old Man Wise", "Around Again", "Tangerine" and "Get Off My Cloud". Big, loud songs that sound best with the volume cranked up. These tend to be the songs where Corabi's screaming ability and vocal range show up, the man is one of the best rock front men to come around in a long time.

"Heavy D" (starts of a bit slower, but has some great guitar riffs and strong bass) is a bit different than most of the songs on the album. The pace of the song changes back and forth between fast and slow. Great song though, one of the best on the album.

Some strong powerful `love' songs (think Fuel-Hemmorage) like "Pain Behind Your Eyes" and "Love (I Don't Need It Anymore)".

One of the real gems on the album is "Robin's Song", an acoustic ballad that shows some amazing work by Bruce Kulick and superb lyrics by John Corabi. There was an era from about '88 to '91 where every `rock band' had one of these acoustic ballads on their album and while some are truly great songs many are instantly forgettable. This is one of the best you'll ever hear.

"October Morning Wind", "Let It Flow" and "Empty Soul" are all good songs, but not the type of songs that would compel someone to actually purchase the album. October Morning Wind has some more great work by Bruce Kulick, he really shined on this album.
The Spitfire release of this album does include a cover "Oh Darling". It's not bad at all, but if you actually want to hear Union doing cover songs you should pick up their live album, they have an amazing version of Cheap Trick's "Surrender".

When I picked up the album, I thought I knew what to expect from Bruce Kulick and John Corabi based on their work with Kiss and Crue. Neither disappointed. If you enjoyed John Corabi on Motley Crue's self titled 1994 release then you will enjoy him here. Bruce Kulick was phenomenal on this record, not quite like anything he did with Kiss except maybe Carnival Of Souls, he is definitely one of the most underrated and under-appreciated guitarists from the 80s shred fest. What surprised me about the album was how great Jamie Hunting and Brent Fitz are. I had never heard of either before this, but both are great on this album, they're tight together and lay a great foundation for Corabi and Kulick to shine.

It's a shame so many people missed out on this band, definitely one of the better albums to come out in the overwhelmingly vacuous 90s.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hands down, the best rock n'roll album of the year!, October 12, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Union (Audio CD)

The whole world was ecstatic when Kiss announced that they would reunite with their original lineup and Motley Crue rejoined forces w/ original frontman Vince Neil. But where did that leave guitarist Bruce Kulick and singer John Corabi? It's fitting that these two musicians joined forces to record their own material, and quite impressive that it turned out better than their previous work and their respected bands. The self-titled disc opens w/ "Old Man Wise", a balls to the wall rock song that sets the stage for the mayhem to come. "Around Again" is a slower song about karma with an incredible groove. Musically, "Pain Behind Your Eyes" doesn't exactly match up, but John's vocals give it that extra push to make it memorable. "Love(I Don't Need It Anymore)" is the best track by far and could blow away any trendy modern rock station. Other highlights include "Let it Flow", the acoustic "October Morning Wind", and the heavy melodic rocker "Tangerine". The album's closer "Robin's Song" is a love song John wrote to his ex-girlfriend but never sent, that was later put to music. This could instantly be a Top 40 radio hit with Kulick's fancy fretwork and Corabi's touching vocals. And don't forget drummer Brent Fitz and bassist Jamie Hunting, who help to make this cd even more spectacular. Do whatever you have to do to get this, but don't miss out on a band that is helping to pave the way for the return of rock n'roll.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars UNION is an album that any fan of hard rock will enjoy., August 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Union (Audio CD)

Despite the rather lackluster success of so-called "supergroups" in the past (does anyone remember Contraband or Blue Murder??), I approached the debut release from Union with a little apprehension. There is no doubting the credentials of John Corabi (Motley Crue frontman for their self-titled 1994 album) or Bruce Kulick (KISS' guitarist from 1984 to 1996); but who were these other 2 guys they picked up? Brent Fitz? James Hunting? I figured I would let the music speak for itself since, after all...that's what counts, right? I was really surprised with how good Union, the album, actually is. All KISS biases aside, this is an EXCELLENT piece of work! KISS' 1997 album, Carnival of Souls, really allowed Bruce's talent to come through to the fans and he is able to carry that forward to Union. The guitarwork here is incredible. From 12-string acoustics to blistering solos, Bruce's talent is what backs the group and gives it a shot in the arm. ! John Corabi is a great vocalist as well; his vocals on the Motley Crue album were greatly overlooked. John and Bruce handle the songwriting here. Though John was a significant part of the writing on the Motley Crue album, Bruce was never allowed to showcase his writing with KISS until the COS album...and by then he was out of the band anyway. With this batch of songs, the two bring to light a definite flair for writing strong rock songs. Old Man Wise was the first single released from the album and is definitely one of the stronger cuts. The song (and album for that matter) grabs the listener right away with a killer guitar riff. John's vocals are great for a hard rock song like this, especially the scream he lets out half way through the song. Around Again follows with another great beginning. It's got a great groove to it and Bruce's leads propel the song. James and Brent establish an awesome rhythm section on this song as well. Pain Behind Your Eyes! is my favorite song on the album. It starts out quietly ! sounding like a sappy ballad but once the chorus kicks in, Union means business! The drums are fantastic in this song and John's raspy vocals really deliver. PBYE should be a single in my opinion. With Love (I Don't Need It Anymore), Union explores a more radio-friendly single. It's a very bluesy song with some cool distortion work from Bruce on his guitar. Another great tune that should be destined for a future single! Heavy D... (the song, not the Rubenesque rapper) slows things down with a nice acoustic opening but once again segues into a slow grind during the chorus with some great bass guitar from James. Heavy D... also boasts one of the best guitar solos from Bruce on the album. It's short but sweet! I have no idea what Heavy D... stands for but that's probably the whole point. Keeping things going for the homestretch is Let It Flow, which opens with a "heartbeat" drum. Brent's drums are a big part of this song. He maintains a primitiv! e-sounding beat throughout the song which gives it a very unique feel from the rest of the album. Let It Flow has a very psychedelic feel to it that Jimmy Page and Robert Plant have shifted toward in the last few years. I think I hear a sitar being played in parts which gives the song a Middle Eastern aura. The real star of Let It Flow though is Mr. Kulick who tears up his guitar with some of the best solo work he has ever produced. Great job, Bruce!! Empty Soul is an OK tune but is one of my least favorites on the album. It just doesn't grab me. October Morning Wind is the second single from Union and has hit written all over it! A great acoustic guitar opening leads into a fantastic performance from John. Good harmonizing from the band, too, during the chorus. The lyrics of this song are great and in my opinion are the strongest of the bunch. October Morning Wind is another one of my favorites. Get Off My Cloud is the weakest track on the album. There ! has to be one on an album...Get Off My Cloud gets the dubi! ous honor on Union. Like Empty Soul, it just doesn't grab me and I find the chorus to be a little overbearing for the song. Tangerine gets credited with the best opening on the album. A cool screeching guitar floats from the left and channels that brings on yet another highlight of Bruce's guitarwork. Who says the over-indulgent guitar solo is dead? Bruce delivers a great one here. Tangerine is another catchy song that definitely has single potential with a memorable chorus. Great bass work here as well from James. Robin's Song is the lone ballad from Union. John wrote this song as he was going through a divorce with his wife, Robin. Not a sappy ballad but a painful one as John beckons her to stay to save him the pain of losing his best friend and true love. Not a complex song but the stripped-down nature of Robin's Song lets Bruce's acoustic guitar and John's expressive vocals take the spotlight. It took only one listening for me to realize that Union! will make its mark as a distinct entity from its members' former groups. An indie-label release will not guarantee Union the exposure that it could have received if the album was released on a major label. However it is the music that is important and this is damn good music. Hopefully Union will translate into a hit for the band because this is strong material that any music fan, not just KISS or Motley Crue fans, will enjoy.