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War Babies
war babies


At long last, Seattle's Brad Sinsel plots his return with a band and record borne of sheer grit and determination. War Babies is a commercial rock record with major depth, getting well under the skin of its deceptively straight-forward compositions. Comparisons have been made to Aerosmith and of course, TKO, both camps evident in War Babies' brand of pistol-packing blues metal. Yet it seems like every track, be it ballad or rocker, is written with a strenght of song that could conceivably turn tune to anthem, anthem to hit. The overall feel is one of defiant timelessness, combining the American best of the 70s, and the American-influenced best of the mid-Œ80s with Œ90s style urgency to give it your best shot now. Thus lead vid and single Hang Me Up, personal fave Killing Time and second vid Blue Tomorrow (yet another dedication to Andrew Wood) all go places intense and struggling, Sinsel assembling a crack band to make his presence felt. Through a stubborn but brilliant and battle-worn re-working of traditional riffs, traditional lyrical concerns, nad traditional recording processes, War Babies triumphs, theemotional wreckage of a rock'n'roll lifetime bleeding from Sinsel's vocals, driving the performances of the marksmen at his side. Tough as nails.
Rating 10 / 10

History:

War Babies broke into the scene with their self-titled debut in 1992  Put together in Seattle by former TKO members Brad Sinsel (vocals) and Richard Stuverud (drums, formerly of the Fastbacks, a band that also included Guns N'Roses' Duff MacKagan), the band was rounded out by Tommy McMullin (guitar), Guy Lacey (guitar) and Shawn Trotter (bass). The debut album was released on Columbia records (featuring the debut single Hang Me Up cowritten by Kiss' Paul Stanley). This album could have been a major contender for the radio airwaves. But, their brand of metal was tossed aside with the others to make way for bands such as Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains. War Babies is a very strong guitar rock record with heavy hitters like &Mac186;Satellite&Mac197; and &Mac186;Hang Me Up&Mac197;.
But despite being from Seattle, their sound didn't fit into the grunge era that was popular at the time and the band quickly vanished.
McMullin started the Dead Letters while Lacey and Trotter are currently in 8 Days In Jail. Stuverud would join and record with several Seattle bands, the most recognizable being Three Fish, a side project featuring Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament. Brad Sinsel re-released a remastered and remixed version of "Below The Belt", reforming the legendary TKO.

BAND MEMBERS

BRAD SINSEL
Lead Vocals / Acoustic Guitars

TOMMY MCMULLIN
Lead Rhythm Acoustic Guitars / Backing Vocals

SHAWN TROTTER
Bass / Backing Vocals

RICHARD STUVERUD
Drums / Percussion / Backing Vocals


TRACKLISTING:

1. HANG ME UP
2. IN THE WIND
3. CRY YOURSELF TO SLEEP
4. SWEETWATER
5. SEA OF MADNESS
6. BLUE TOMORROW
7. SATELLITE
8. DEATH VALLEY OF LOVE
9. BIG BIG SUN
10. KILLING TIME
11. CARE (MAN I JUST DON'T)

Bonus tracks:

14. HANG ME UP (EDIT VERSION)
15. CRY YOURSELF TO SLEEP (SINGLE VERSION)
16. CRY YOURSELF TO SLEEP (GUITAR VERSION)
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