BLUE TEARS – The Innocent Ones

Should fans of Metal Express Radio’s Hairbanger’s Hairspray show rejoice? The band that gave “Hair Metal” that forgotten 1990’s classic “Rockin’ With The Radio” is back after sixteen years with new material. For you non-80s fans, probably a more formal introduction of the band Blue Tears is necessary.

Founder Gregg Fulkerson, out of Henderson, Tennessee, USA, started the band in 1983 and helped get the band signed to a highly acclaimed 1990 debut on top dog label, MCA Records. The band’s sound at the time was reminiscent of Steve Plunkett’s Autograph with highly accessible sing-a-long choruses and a big beat sound. Blue Tears’ second album never saw the light of day (even though demo songs were cut) as the band got cast aside like “a thief in the night” due to the sudden popularity of the infamous Grunge wave that hit the States in the early 90s. Now Fulkerson is back with a different line-up and a slightly different sound, but it’s a more mature sound that won’t offend Bon Jovi (JBJ) fans in the slightest.

It’s evident that this incarnation of the band can write songs that are as solid and as catchy as material from JBJ and his crew. Blue Tears has it nailed down to a science so much so that they’ve even included, for example, the melodic as hell “nah-nah-nah-nahs” in the track “Run For Your Life.” The band has traded the anthem, fist-pumpin, Stadium Rock chant-a-longs for the more AOR-oriented, multi-tracked choruses. Also gone are the distorted guitar lines, riffs, and looming guitar solos that were commonplace in Melodic 80s Hard Rock. In its place are guitars that take a more supportive role as opposed to being the focal point for an MTV video. Fulkerson, as a vocalist, doesn’t display the softness and tenderness of JBJ. At times, Fulkerson comes across as a more straight, down and dirty Rock vocalist, often akin to a Bruce Springsteen. So much so that tracks like “The Innocent Ones,” “Gloryland,” and “Money To Burn” could well be mistaken for a song from “The Boss.”

Winning tracks are the aforementioned “Run For Your Life,” “Fast Times,” “She Wants To Be A Star,” and “Silent Scream” for their upbeat tempos, slightly more predominant guitar, and catchy as heck JBJ chorus approaches. All of these tracks should be big crowd pleasers in large stadiums filled brim to brim with dancing and swaying female fans.

Bottom line, it’s not exactly the classic sound heard on their debut, but in it’s place is a more mature, perhaps more accessible sound. With fourteen tracks in total, the release has it’s fair share of ballads and slower-paced songs. There’s no doubting the marketing literature that makes comparisons to Def Leppard and Bon Jovi. For avid Bon Jovi fans, this release will sate your appetites until that next opus arrives from those New Jersey guys! There might also be interest here for Springsteen fans who like to live dangerously once in awhile on the hard side of Rock.

Lineup

Gregg Fulkerson – Vocals, Guitar
Bryan Wolski – Bass
Robert Streets – Drums