Bangalore Choir – On Target

The "hair metal" scene of the late 1980s and early `90s is full of "should have been huge" stories, but L.A.-based Bangalore Choir is one that really stands out. Bangalore Choir had just about everything a band needed at the time to break big on radio and MTV - a melodic, hard rocking sound with plenty of catchy hooks and feel good party anthems, a glam look, and the right people helping out behind the scenes - songwriters Jon Bon Jovi, Aldo Nova and Steve Plunkett and producer Max Norman. They even had a video for "Loaded Gun" that we all would have seen daily on the MTV countdown if not for the fact that the band's 1992 debut On Target came out just as Nirvana released Nevermind and totally changed the popular music landscape.

Bangalore Choir's career may have ended before it really began, but they did leave behind a pretty terrific album in On Target. This is the perfect halfway point between the late wave Hollywood hair metal of Warrant and Slaughter and the more melodic AOR of Giant, Valentine and Tyketto. David Reece (later of Accept and Gypsy Rose) is an effective frontman, and his voice is perfect for this kind of upbeat party rock. Songs like "Loaded Gun," "All or Nothin'" and "Slippin' Away" totally embody the shallow hair metal song stereotype, but they're so much fun it hardly matters.

While it probably never reaches "essential" territory, even by `80s hair metal standards, On Target is a pretty irresistible melodic rock album that's sure to appeal to just about anyone who was "raised on rock" in that era. Check it out, especially now that it has been reissued.

Reissue Notes: AOR Heaven gave On Target a much needed reissue in 2010. The reissue features digitally remastered audio by Martin Kronlund (a later collaborator of David Reeece), a bonus video clip for "Loaded Gun" and expanded liner notes with vintage photos and an essay from David Reece. They changed the cover to remove the eye candy though, which is a bummer. Still, it's a really nice reissue all-around.