Babylon A.D. are one of the very few hard rock bands from the late Eighties that still have the original line-up, namely singer Derek Davis, guitarists John Mathews and Ron Freschi, drummer Jamey Pacheco and bassist Robb Reid. Formed in 1987, the following year they caught the attention of Arista Records President and music industry legend Clive Davis, who signed them at a live showcase in Los Angeles. The resulting debut reached gold sales status in the U.S. and spent 38 weeks on the Billboard Top 200, peaking at #46. It took them until 1992 to come back with their second album, but then it wasn’t until 2000 that they released their third, and another 17 years until the fourth! I can’t believe that they have been active all that time, and it does appear that it was only in 2014 that they started working again, since when they have been gigging fairly hard.
Sometimes one wonders what might have happened if a band had got all the right breaks at the right time. I’m guessing that Babylon A.D. were one of the many acts that suffered with the grunge explosion, which is a real shame as in Derek they have a singer who has more than a touch of Steve Tyler, both in vocal style and attitude, and the rest of the band are spot on, with solid songs and performances. They don’t always have the energy that one might want from this style of melodic hard rock, but they always feel professional and controlled, and it certainly wants to make me find out more about them. Let’s hope that they stick at it and give us another release in the near future, as this is definitely worth investigating.
