TKO – In Your Face [Rock Candy Remastered +10] (2016)

Mentioned as influence by various famous ’80s hard rock bands, TKO albums are being ‘Remastered & Reloaded‘ by Rock Candy Records with several bonus tracks. TKO’s “In Your Face” is one their strongest.

Vocalist Brad Sinsel, a native of Yakima, Washington, got his start in rock in the early Seventies in Ze Whiz Kidz, a flamboyant, influential glam rock band that opened a Seattle show by the New York Dolls in 1974.
Eventually, he joined a reformed version of the band Mojo Hand which featured co-founding members Mark Seidenverg (bass) and Darryl Siguenza (drums), along with former Whiz Kidz guitarist Rick Pierce. With the addition of Sinsel and Tony Bortko (guitar, keyboards) the band became TKO.

Represented by managers who also worked with platinum sellers Heart, the band signed a major label recording contract in 1977, though it would be more than a year before the first album Let It Roll would appear, went on to sell roughly 150,000 copies. TKO toured the U.S. extensively, including shows with the Kinks, Cheap Trick, AC/DC, Van Halen as well as Heart and made their way to Japan.

Sadly, TKO’s initial momentum was quickly squashed when their label, Infinity Records, made a disastrous financial blunder by signing Pope John Paul II, with a non-recoupable $6 million dollar advance.
It was an investment that forced the collapse of the label, leaving TKO cast adrift trying to pick up the pieces in a world that was always looking for new fresh talent rather than rescuing those who were left floundering in shallow water.

So TKO, needed to reinvent there selves. In this respect, the band, and Brad Sinsel, set about not only reconstructing their line up but also a new sound.
This time around they honed in on raw, in your face hard rock, crafting a sound that had more in common with European tastes than American acts.
Enlisting musicians that included guitarist Adam Brenner (later known as solo artist as Adam Bomb) and signing a production deal with producer Rick Keefer, the band flew to Hawaii and recorded “In Your Face”, arguably one of the best American hard rock records of the era.

Despite the quality of their material, getting a deal proved problematic resulting in the band splintering, to be brought back into existence by Sinsel when Combat Records eventually offered a contract.
Ahead of its time, the riffs and aggression were raw, hard and unrelenting. In fact, the record was hailed as a genre milestone influencing much of the US hard rock scene for years to come.
This Rock Candy reissue features the original album completely digitally remastered, plus the 2001 remix of the whole thing (much better in my opinion).
Strongly Recommended

01 – I Wanna Fight
02 – Run Out Of Town
03 – Give Into The Night
04 – End Of The Line
05 – Working Girl
06 – All I Want To Do
07 – Don’t Give It Away
08 – I Can Do Without You
09 – So This Is Rock N Roll
10 – Danger City
BONUS TRACKS:
11 – I Wanna Fight (Bonus Track – 2001 Remix)
12 – Run Out Of Town (Bonus Track – 2001 Remix)
13 – Give Into The Night (Bonus Track – 2001 Remix)
14 – End Of The Line (Bonus Track – 2001 Remix)
15 – Working Girl (Bonus Track – 2001 Remix)
16 – All I Want To Do (Bonus Track – 2001 Remix)
17 – Don’t Give It Away (Bonus Track – 2001 Remix)
18 – I Can Do Without You (Bonus Track – 2001 Remix)
19 – So This Is Rock N Roll (Bonus Track – 2001 Remix)
20 – Danger City (Bonus Track – 2001 Remix)

Brad Sinsel – vocals
Kjartan Kristoffersen – guitars
Scott Earl – bass
Ken Mary – drums

BUY IT !
www.oldies.com/product-view/27216P.html
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