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21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ageless ZEBRA Rocks On With ZEBRA IV, March 1, 2005
To understand the beauty and joy after all these years until "IV" from a very happy fan growing up on LI who has followed this band from its early days, for what it's worth, check this out.....In the late 70's into the 80's, remember the better club bands to see on Long Island that included Stanton Anderson, Swift Kick, Llama, Broken Arrow, Thrills, Fanatics, The Lines, the great Good Rats, superb axeman Mark Hitt & Rat Race Choir and the blistering Twisted Sister that even came out from NYC (they really had some wild, kickin' shows at Mad Hatters in the Hamptons!!!!) Nothing in this lineup is close to being complete without having Zebra around. They along with the Good Rats and Rat Race Choir were the main unofficial "marquee" bands on the LI club circuit back then.
At a time when Led Zeppelin were still the primary gods of heavy metal rock, to have an extremely talented musician such as Randy Jackson whose vocal range and a Robert Plant/Geddy Lee -like falsetto soared perfectly with his flawless guitar and keyboard work along with a very talented duo of Felix Hanemann (bass and additional vocals) and Guy Gelso (drums)to come onto the LI club circuit (via La.) was a very welcome event. Of course, with this uniquely gifted talent, it was primarily expert covers of Zeppelin and a powerful stage show that got them noticed big time and once that happened, Zep influenced Zebra-styled originals were put into the mix. It was time for a record deal.
Zebra's debut was enormously successful. When it was released in '83, it was Atlantic Records fastest selling debut album ever. To us who know and have heard it--(over and over)--it is truely an overall classic -- "Who's Behind The Door" was being played on MTV and FM stations all the time, "Tell Me What You Want" was all over FM as well, classics "Take Your Fingers From My Hair", The La La Song", "One More Chance", "As I Said Before" were no-brainer fan favorites. It also didn't hurt that Zeppelin fans were starving for something like this since the mighty ones had broken up. Zebra sure had a dedicated, hardcore regional fan base but lacked a true national audience to propel them further as their magic really didn't catch on fast enough elsewhere on a national level.The combination of an ever changing music scene moving further into the 80's with punk and new wave started dominating the airwaves more and more along with Zebra's release of an overall uneven and ultimately unsuccessful follow-up album, "No Tellin' Lies" that virtually stifled any continued momentum (although "Bears", "Lullaby" and "Wait Until The Summer's Gone" were outstanding tracks off it). Additionally, it didn't help that critics who really didn't fully know or understand the band continued to knock Randy's vocal style and tried to dismiss him as over-glossing his Plant-like vocal gift and propel the band into nothing more than another "dime-a-dozen" 80's arena-rock Zeppelin clones that had a super stage performance and presence as well as a strong regional fan base following but nothing more sustaining artistically.
With the momentum stifled for a few years, the band came back strong with, in my opinion, one of the most underrated rock albums of the late 80's with 1986's "3V". It was clear that the band continued to mature greatly in both their song writing skills as well as their playing craft and recording prowess as they came away with a very engaging, polished effort with gems that included "Time", "Hard Livin' Without You", "Better Not Call" and "Your Mind's Open". However, with a combination of poor promotion, lack of radio exposure and the still unfavorable musical climate towards heavy metal rock at the time, "3V" got lost (soon the tide would start changing towards heavy metal again when the Guns N Roses masterpiece "Appetite For Destruction" was released in '87). Four years later, they released the fantastic "Zebra Live" that basically was a pure energetic live summary of their greatest hits in an attempt to capture an expanded audience. This again was a recording gem that virtually became unknown other than to their dedicated cult following. 1998's superb compilation "The Best Of Zebra - In Black & White" again went primarily only as far as a reminiscing fan classic.
Now comes "IV" in '03. Coming back after 13+ years since the live album release to record this CD is a feat in itself. It is another to come back with an outstanding, absolutely polished, powerful set of 11 songs that basically picks up their artistic progression from the "3V" days. Each song brings back the best of the best qualities that the band has displayed for over 25 years now. Better yet, between the obvious growing maturity the band has continued to possess to date, the catchy, energetic melodic power rock song craft they are famous for, the overall crisp musicianship and pristine digital technology sound recording of today's studio work on the CD, the long awaited "IV" is simply hailed as complete. Randy's vocals never sounded so clean with plenty of his enjoyable range. His guitar and keyboard playing are again flawless. Felix is superb on his bass and vocal contributions and Guy, who has been knocked by critics in the past for "over-drumming" is straight-forward with simplified Bonham-like thunderous and defined drum command to carry the trio home with a winner. The CD blasts off with seven superb power tracks in the Zebra style. A little twist that is a first for Zebra is mastered on track #8, "Waiting To Die", as in the mix is a very cool sax interlude throughout. The remaining three songs are slower-tempo introspective gems that ends with the smooth ballad "Why".
Though it was tough for this fan not to hear anything new for all these years up to "IV", I can simply say that this CD shines on with the superb AOR traditions this band continues to master through all these years and is most definitely worth the wait. Highly recommended !!
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Zebra is an incredible band true to their own vision!, December 31, 2003
By A Customer
'EddieHollings' and 'Happydogspudhead' have absolutely no clue as to what drives people to listen to good music in general. They have the pomposity to pretent to own your feelings when it comes to something as personal as music. To pigeonhole Zebra's fans and music with inane and trite stereotypical and often false descriptions is obviously 'the easy way out' for them, and a glimpse into their own shallowness and insecurity. I happen to be a 42 year old music fan and musician, with a CD collection of just over 1,900 titles, with music spanning many many genres and even languages (Greek, Italian, French, Spanish, etc.). I am an Aerospace Hydraulics Engineer for a large Fortune 100 corporation, and live in California, not Louisiana or Long Island (which are very nice places in their own right). I even have a crew cut. So guys, give it up by trying to speak for others here and making fools of yourselves. That said, Zebra IV is an excellent release, in my opinion. The band is still true to their craft, and their songwriting abilities show well on this CD. In this day and age of broken relationships and fleeting artificiality, it's nice to see classic bands like Zebra, Rush, or The Church (some examples of long lived bands) manage to crank out great, heartfelt music true to their own spirit and vision! For this, I applaud them. Their first release is a hard rock masterpiece and classic. That quality and musicianship continues with Zebra IV. Great job Randy, Felix, and Guy!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Zebra has still got it, August 24, 2003
The long awaited new album rocks. Randy's voice and guitar sound as good as ever. All killer no filler, every song is good. I love the whole album. Get it now.
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