Sandra Dee | Visions of Pain
by Nikiforos Skoumas
Staff Writer
Issued by Eonian records is Visions of Pain, the album by glam/sleaze metal band Sandra Dee. The group entered the hair metal scene in the late ’80s and was active during the period 1989-1992 at which point they recorded the collection of songs titled Visions of Pain. It is refreshing to hear that Sandra Dee is substantially differentiated from the stereotypical approach of late ‘80s glam bands.
Imagine the protestant attitude, the grooves and the vocals of Warrior Soul mixed with the melodies, production and technical lead guitars of groups like Nitro and Vinnie Vincent Invasion and you have a rather accurate picture of what Sandra Dee stood for. From the album title and song names it becomes clear that the group never set out for commercial stardom.
Through drawing elements from the grunge style, which was already catching up at the time, Sandra Dee are far too technically accomplished to be labelled a grunge band. Lead singer Lance Thomason may choose to emulate Kory Clarke on his approach but he does uncover his melodic capabilities during the choruses coming rather close to Michael Matijevic which is quite a feat. The guitarists Gino Buonamici and Jason Bowman indeed hold nothing back on their solos throwing in twin guitar melodies, insane vibratos and copious amounts of shredding in Vinnie Vincent Style. Their rhythm performance is also well crafted-though most riffs are groovy and loud, their precise execution sets them apart from Grunge.
On the other hand, the rhythm section of Geoff Matson and Erik Youmans follows the Warrior Soul paradigm to the letter with a rather loud tempo and even louder cymbal sounds in the mix which adds an all-the-more ’90s groove to Sandra Dee. It has to be addressed that for any old-school hair metal fan, the rhythm section of Sandra Dee can grow tiring and to a certain extent undermine the overall experience as one could argue that glam metal and grunge do not mix, despite their valiant efforts to balancing the two genres.
Overall Visions of Pain turned out to be quite the intriguing musical experience, possibly standing as the missing link between hair metal and grunge (if such could ever exist). For rock/metal fans who enjoy being challenged in the musical arena, Visions of Pain is an ideal proposition. Sandra Dee to a certain extent should also appeal to fans of technical hair metal such as Nitro and Vinnie Vincent Invasion. It is very likely however that the average hair metal/ melodic rock/AOR fan would probably struggle to come to terms with the conclusive style of Sandra Dee.
Genre: Experimental Hair Metal
Label: http://www.eonianrecords.com/
Band:
Lance Thomason – Lead Vocals
Chris Kamyowski – Lead Vocals
Gino Buonamici – Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals
Jason Bowman – Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals
Geoff Matson – Bass
Erik Youmans – Drums
Nicky Bernardi – Drums
Track Listing:
01. Pretty Child
02. Cassandra
03. Take You Higher
04. Heading Home
05. Peace, Pot & Politics
06. Going Down
07. Inside Yourself
08. Visions of Pain
09. Cold
10. Nothing
Hardrock Haven rating: 7/10