Category: 1994

Fronted by the charismatic Karen Lawrence, 1994 were one, in a long list, of great North American female-fronted hard rock bands emerging on the back of the success of Heart and Pat Benatar. Their sophomore record “Please Stand By…” was one of the strongest albums in the genre from the era, superbly remastered by Rock Candy Records released for the first time on CD including 4 lovely bonus tracks.
Who couldn’t love the vocals of the lovely Karen Lawrence? A particularly versatile singer who could just as easily strip the paint off your woodwork with her throaty roar as caress your ears with her beautiful melodies. The main difference with 1994’s debut was new guitarist Rick Armand (and bassist Bill Rhodes, who plays more guitar than bass here), resulting in a little more varied material.
The opening title-track is a great upbeat song, and the track the original LP ended with – the raucous ‘Keep Ravin’ On’, is perhaps the heaviest thing 1994 ever recorded.

1994 were one of the greatest North American hard rock bands that time and tide has indeed forgotten. Fortunately Rock Randy Records ‘Remastered & Reloaded‘ the band’s debut “1994“, with four bonus tracks, an album you need to check if you love Heart / Ann Wilson.
Signed in a blaze of publicity to the mighty A&M label, produced by studio wizard Jack ‘Aerosmith’ Douglas and hailed as the next big thing, 1994 never quite made the commercial impact all had hoped for.
When released, Geoff Barton, writing for Sounds magazine (now Editor of Classic Rock Magazine), made no secret of his love for 1994’s self-titled debut album, acclaiming it as “one of the year’s best releases – a deadly yet cool combination of Heart and Aerosmith”…