Conference napalm::heavy_metal

580.0. "Neverland" by CAVLRY::BUCK (sun beats down on the cold steel rails) Thu Jun 20 1991 13:01

    Saw a young, promising band last night called NEVERLAND.  They are
    opening up for KIX on their current club tour.
    
    These guys are from LA, and played after Boston's (over-rated) Love
    Pollution.  Nevermind was a grim reminder that Boston bands really suck
    on any sort of a professional level!!  These dues from LA release their
    debut album next Tuesday, June 25th, nationwide!  
    
    This band was HOT.  A very unique sound...not quite funky-metal, not
    quite journey/AOR-metal, not quite early-Cult-pseudo-60s-hippy-metal
    ... you kind of had to hear it.  The songs were very rhytmic, very
    melodic, very dancable, up beat, with a dash of christianity thrown in
    (ala King's X) for good measure.  They have a VERY charasmatic lead
    singer, who looks like a cross between Jake E Lee and Slash, and has
    stage presence similar to Robert Plant, Axl, Steve Tyler.  This guy can
    SING...AND, he played drums, bongos, harmonica, and percussion
    throughout the set!  His talent definitely overshadowed the rest of the
    band, who looked and sounded sort of like Bullet Boys misfits.  
    
    I didn't like their choice for a first single, but, chalk one up for
    record people I guess.
    
    I plan to buy this record, and would go se thing band again in a
    heartbeat (that is alot, I hate going to clubs to see bands!!).
    
    Back to the Boston scene, I felt sorry for Love Pollution...they try,
    but they really don't have their $#!t together AT ALL.  This gig showed
    it quite explicitly.  Also, we were barraged by flyers for this big
    up-and-coming metal show at the channel.  Sort of like that THING I
    went to that time at CITI...all the same bands..."MEMBERS OF" Extreme,
    Cinderella, and Enuff Z Nuff, doing jam-based bull$#!t (like last
    time), with 9 million Boston metal bands opening the bill.  Bands like
    Atunga, Love Pollution, Witch (fackin) Bonnie, etc.  Sorry, but I'll
    PASS on this one...couldn't stand another SLUDGEFEST 91, thankuverymuch!
    Just FYI if anyone in here wants to O-D on a 6 hour mash of Boston's
    most average metal bands in one sitting...there ya go!
    
    B.
    
    

    What happened to this band...they were cool!

I picked up this album, and Buck is right - this band is cool!!! They have
a sorta unique sound - very melodic and not too harsh. 

They also avoid obvious cliches, unlike most pop/metal bands. 

Take some Cheap Trick, add a dash of U2, and a little LA pop/metal, and you get 
an idea of what this band is like.

The album is quite nice to listen to! (Especially after Danger Danger and
Kik Tracee - this was like a breath of fresh air! Here's a HM band that knows 
what "subtlety" is - amazing!)

alan