Ready Or Not (Hol) [CD], Lou Gramm, CD

"Ready or Not" was the debut solo album by Lou Gramm (the great vocalist ex Black Sheep and Foreigner and pre Shadow King). His voice is lovely warm and nervous, easily one of the best vocalist in AOR. He and co-writer Bruce Turgon penned some mighty good tunes here, these ten tunes mostly pound and growl with intensity. The opening songs are strong and catchy. The title track starts things off with blasts of distorted, chunking power chords with a rip-roaring guitar solo that sets up Gramm's signature scream. It's followed up by "Heartache", a song that places a slapping drumbeat out in front of a very tasteful, but very 1980's synth. These tracks lay the groundwork for the album's highlight, "Midnight Blue", the kind of song that I long to hear become mainstream once again. "Time" features a thumping verse that leads into a sing-along chorus. Featuring Bruce Turgon on bass, Phil Ashley on keyboards, Nils Lofgren on guitars.