Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Wild - Wild 1 (1988)

Wild's history is vague at best, though it is known that the band came to life in Los Angeles in 1985. Known then as "The Wild", the band featured multi-instrumentalist, Dizzy Reed, of Guns 'n Roses fame. The band were a fixture on the club circuit for several years before being offered a one-off deal from Columbia Records. Essentially a duo in the studio, Reed and vocalist Todd Barrone handled all of the chores (along with producer Andy Wallace) in creating their self-titled debut, which hit stores in early 1988. The album failed to ignite the charts, due mostly to non-existent promotion and corporate shakeups happening at the label that year. As a result, Dizzy Reed jumped ship to join GNR, leaving the band effectively dead in the water. Barrone's whereabouts are unknown, though he is rumored to be a born again minister in Nevada.

So what of this album anyway? Well, folks, I rarely gush over albums released during the hair metal craze of the late 80's, but this is one rare exception. Sporting a futuristic musical viewpoint, "Wild 1" is nothing short of amazing. Taking elements of techno and industrial music (before either term had ever been commercially recognized) blended with hard rock, Wild crafted a sound that in retrospect can be called visionary. Predating the indsutrial metal movement by several years, the band along with Zodiac Mindwarp can be easily credited as forerunners of the genre. With sinewy keyboards, bleeps, triggered drums, guitar synths and sleazy charismatic vocals, "Wild 1" is a fantastic batch of hook driven electronic hard rock. Missing all of the excesses of bands who came along years later, the album sports a sleek and minimalistic approach that allows the arrangements to breathe and the hooks to stand uncluttered. It is really amazing this album failed to reach a wider audience.

Obviously the lack of response then has never inspired Columbia to reissue the album now, so it languishes in the vaults indefinitely. In the meantime, I've included this sweet CD rip for all to enjoy. Check out this highly unique effort from Wild. You will be glad you did :)

16 comments:

Popfanatic said...

Hi
I just wanted to say that it's very cool that you posted this album. It Rocks!
My brother and I used to listen it ALOT back in the 80's.
Thanks
Your Blog is Fantastic!!!

Anonymous said...

Any chance of a re-up. I love this band and I can't find this anywhere.

Anonymous said...

Huh, sudden rise in popularity in May, 2010. :)

I had/have the vinyl version of this and my bud that I did a local radio show had the CD version, we both loved this album. Thanks a lot for the rips, I don't know why I suddenly had an urge to google them.

Anon, click on the sharebee link that's above the comments, then on that page there's some green links, I found a copy of the wild192 rar is stil on the Megaupload page.

Anonymous said...

Nice! I still have the CD and longbox. I found the band through MTV's 120 Minutes playing "Hurricane." I remember them being recommended for fans of The Cult, Mission UK, Balaam & the Angel, etc. In retrospect, I think they sound more like Billy Idol than anything else.

Unknown said...

Be warned friends, I came across a $300 Japanese bootleg that after further inspection turned out to be a poor quality cassette transfer. Criminally underrated album, should have been huge.

Trent Sprenkle said...

Just watched the video for Hurricane. Unbelievable as I've never even knew they had a video !!!! BUT, I think you and everyone else who has written about WILD are WRONG! This was not the band from L.A. The Wild!!!! After pausing the video on the guitar player, it's easily NOT Dizzy Reed! The mystery continues!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

John was not Dizzy nor did he ever pretend to be. We took a one shot foxtrot with the big bad showbiz boys. The ride there was a hardcore braindrain that kept us pulling the wrench out of the wheel of sonic thunder and the real panic feedback.
I tried to re-up the shit but can't seem to find my way to do it right. I'm more than happy to throw out a free-be. I'm glad you bunch of rebel upstarts are listening. It was an inspired time.

Todd Barrone

Unknown said...

The Wild, the Hollywood band the Wild,( formally Johnny and the Jaguars ) the Wild members were:
Lead singer - Johnny X, lead guitar - JJ Bolt, Bass -Bobby Holiday, Drums - Sid Washington, Keys - Dizzy.
After Diz left the band they added a female on keys and a female back up singer. The band broke up about a year after Dizzy left to join G&R

Unknown said...

No way is this THE Todd Barrone.

Anonymous said...

Tis' I, it be me...The real deal, Todd Barrone, Trent.
Winter Lilly, you're confusing The Wild with Wild. The Wild were LA based. We were NYC and London based. Completely different deals.

Todd Barrone

Unknown said...

Dude, I gotta know more!!!! Todd, Hit me up at trent@sprenklemultimedia.com

Unknown said...

C'mon man! Waiting!!!!

Unknown said...

Still waiting!!!

Anonymous said...

Todd, how do we get the free-be you mentioned in your post from 2014?

--Listening Rebel Upstart

Unknown said...

2017 and still waiting, Todd!

alxuzz said...

Hey Todd, I love the WILD CD, did you recorded anything else with any other band?