Customer Reviews

Wild America

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I got Tora Tora's first CD, Surprise Attack when I saw the video, "Walkin' Shoes" after I saw the video on MTV. I was blown away by the blues sound they had. I thought finally a rock band that says they play blues rather than just call it rock. I thought the band had disappeared. Then I found out that they actually made another CD, Wild America! I looked for it everywhere and finally found it. It was just as innovative as the first album and had some better songs. I especially like Amnesia, City of Kings, Cold Fever and Wild America. Wild America is one of the greatest patriotic songs of all time. City of Kings is a nice pounding song. The guitars in Cold Fever are great. Amnesia reminds me of their first album as most of it was bitching about women. If the lead singer didn't have such bad luck with women we may not have had this great album.:) Buy this and you won't be disappointed.

I wasn't terribly impressed with Tora Tora's debut album Surprise Attack, but it was good enough to get me to try out their 1992 follow-up Wild America. I'm still not the band's biggest fan, but they definitely took a big step forward with this album.

The band's own mix of melodic hard rock with a Memphis kick is still intact on Wild America, but the album as a whole seems more polished and mature. They sound like a Southern fried Tesla this time around, and that's high praise from me. The title track is far and away the best song on the album. It's a powerhouse rock anthem that's guaranteed to get you pumped up. The ballad As Time Goes By is another highlight. It almost sounds like something accidentally left off Tesla's Psychotic Supper album.

Overall, Wild America comes across as a smarter, but no less fun, version of Surprise Attack. Fans of late 80's and early (pre-grunge) 90's hard rock should find this album well worth checking out.

PS - There's a recorded - but unreleased - third Tora Tora album out there somewhere. The recordings from those sessions sold recently on ebay. Hopefully the album will get a proper CD release someday.

One of the best cd's of it's day. Better then than their debut[surprise attack] it's to bad they only had two albums. Their best songs "lay your your money down","dirty secrets"and of course the reason i bought this cd "amnesia". Great from start to finish.

The raw emotions, the quintesential guitar work ... the scorching vocals ... a band this good should NOT go un-listened to. This album shows a mellowing, but not a softening, of Tora Tora's sound. One can feel the band's tightening sound, and their maturity is evident in every track. Truly, a must have for all music fans. How i wish the record moguls would release "Revolution Day", the yet-to-be-released third album.

Glam rock or hairmetal, whatever you want to call it, was on its way out. I think I picked up Trixter's debut when I got this so you can imagine the sad time period that this was for people who liked their rock n' roll fun. Wild America is an all American rock record from start to finish. It's excellent listening especially on the road. This was by far a better effort than Surprise Attack and had they been given the chance, Tora Tora could have become rock legends along side acts like Tesla. I've purchased this album three times. Every time I spot it, I buy it. Anyone who would throw this one back is a moron. It's just too good an album to give away especially considering it's out of print. Wild America features one of the best break up songs out there, Amnesia. No whining, no preaching, a true classic rock song about moving on after a bad relationship. We could all learn something from this one. It kicks and if memory serves me right, MTV actually featured a video for it when it came out on the old Ball. Hey, if you find this thing, just pick it up. Scan your local used bins like I do. You never know what you'll come across. Other good finds you may run across are Trixter's second album, Hear!, and Wildside's Under The Influence.

TORA TORA'S SECOND RELEASE IN 1992 ! INCREDIBLE TO THINK THAT THAT MUCH TIME WENT IN BETWEEN RECORDINGS, AND THAT THIS WAS RELEASED IN THE MIDST OF THE GRUNGE ONSLAUGHT. THE BAND STUCK TO THEIR FORMULA AND STYLE AND PUT OUT A CLASSIC. THIS BAND SHOULD HAVE RELEASED A TON OF MATERIAL.

TORA TORA IS A DAMN MYSTERY. IT IS JUST A SHAME THAT THIS BAND WASNT MORE EXPOSED. TORA TORA HAS SOME OF THE BEST VOCALS IN ANTHONY CORDER THAT YOU WILL EVER HEAR FROM ANY BAND PERIOD ! LYRICS INCREDIBLE. THIER MUSIC ON PAR WITH ANY 80S / 90S BAND. THEY WERE JUST THAT DAMN GOOD. SOMEBODY DROPPED THE BALL HERE ! YOU WONT SKIP A TRACK ON THIS CD AND I GUARANTEE YOU, YOU WILL BE AMAZED AT HOW SOMETHING THIS GOOD NEVER MADE IT TO YOUR EARS IN 20 YEARS.

TRACK 1. WILD AMERICA ALL ABOUT THE ROCK N ROLL ROAD AND LIFE.

TRACK 2. AMNESIA ANOTHER ROCKER GUY TURNS HIS BACK ON HIS DONE HIM WRONG LOVE YEAH NO TEARS HERE.
GREAT RIFFS , THIS ONE STICK WITHS YA.

TRACK 3. DEAD MANS HAND AHHH TORA TORA BLUES BASED ROCK. GREAT SONG, GREAT MUSIC.

TRACK 4. AS TIME GOES BY INCREDIBLE LOVE BALLAD POISONS " EVERY ROSE HAS ITS THORN " TESLAS LOVE SONG
AND ANYBODY ELSE YOU WANT TO THROW IN COMES IN SECOND TO THIS PEICE OF MUSIC.

TRACK 5. LAY YOUR MONEY DOWN AGAIN THAT BLUES BASED ROCK JUST FLOORS YA !

TRACK 6. SHATTERED REMINDS ME OF ASHPALT BALLETS HELLS KITCHEN A GOOD ROCKER

TRACK 7. DIRTY SECRETS GUITARS SCORCHING ALL WRAPPED AROUND GREAT SINGING

TRACK 8. FAITH HEALER BLUES LOVE BALLAD GREAT ONE! ILL BE YOUR FAITH HEALER

TRACK 9. COLD FEVER A ROCKER

TRACK 10. NOWHERE TO GO BUT DOWN BEAUTIFULL BLUES ROCKER I COULD LISTEN TO SI@T THIS GOOD ALL DAY LONG

TRACK 11. CITY OF KINGS A KILLER ROCKER

LET ME PUT IT LIKE THIS IF YOUR A FAN OF TESLA YOUR GONNA LOVE TORA TORA. THE CRISPNESS OF THIS ALBUM THE VOCALS PUTTING OUT INCREDIBLE LYRICS AND LOADS OF SCORCHING GUITAR YOU WILL PLAY THIS CD TIME AND TIME AGAIN AND MAKE YOUR FRIENDS TORA FANS TOO.

THIS IS AN AWESOME CD.. TORA TORA'S SECOND CD.. GOT ALITTLE MORE BLUES TO IT AND AND LOT OF HARD HITTING SONGS!! A MUST HAVE FOR ANY 80'S METAL FAN!!!

Tora Tora is one of the best undiscovered hard rockin' bands from the '80s era. I remember getting the cassette for this when I worked at PolyGram Records and thinking back then, "Wow, this album is really something". Fast-forward to 2008 and I was psyched to be able to get this on CD.

Just about every tune on this album is catchy and it's not all about hard rock and long hair. There are a few softer, ballad-type, acoustic-laden songs on this album, e.g. "As Time Goes By", "Faith Healer" and "Nowhere To Go But Down" that balance it all out. Even so, the majority of this album is comprised of hard rocking guitar/backing and vocals reminiscent of a Robert Plant/Billy Squier/Axl Rose cross-section.

Once you're launched past the opening "Wild America" track, the second track, "Amnesia" has a hypnotic chorus that will have you tapping your foot and maybe doing a little "air drumming". By the time you get to "Cold Fever", you will have definitely been enticed to get up, grab the broom and dance across the living room floor while doing your best "air guitar".

This band was highly underrated and this album gets my 5-star vote. You will definitely need to have it!!

Trust what the previous revewiers have already stated: This disc rocks!
If Tesla had come from Tennessee and been a little more blues influenced, they may have sounded like this.

I've read the other reviews and all I have to say about this album is that it is a must-buy. Being from Mississippi I saw them many times in Memphis, TN at the Omni New Daisy. Great live, hard music. Unfortunately, Tora Tora got lost in the shuffle with the Seattle bands that came out right after this album. This is a pure rock album and it still rocks after the 14 years I've had it. It's a must have and their first album,Surprise Attack, is definitely worth having also. If you want another band of the same style, don't miss Baton Rouge's first two albums.