Ruffians - Desert Of Tears

Published Oct. 11 2006

*=Staff's pick	I Believe Running Blind Day Of The Champion Desert Of Tears I Will Fly Darkest Of Light It Ain't Over Live By The Sword Soldier's Fate Chosen One Freedom*

Genre	Heavy Metal	Rich Wilde	Vocals
Tracks	11	Craig Behrhorst	Guitar
Runningtime	46 Min.	Chris Atchinson	Guitar
Label	Metal Heaven	Tommy Sisco	Bass
Release	20 Oct. 2006	Luke Bowman	Drums
Country	USA	-	Keyboards
Similar artists	Judas Priest, Vicious Rumors, Omen

Ready for another reunited "classic" band from the eighties? Well Ruffians released their first album in 1985 with the legendary Carl Albert behind the microphone. Before he tragically died in a car accident he is mostly known for his position as vocalist for Vicious Rumors. Ruffians' debut album received great reviews but Carl decided in spite of this to leave the band at the end of 1985. After auditioning over 50 vocalists they recruited Rich Wilde for the spot and recorded 4 tracks that appeared on various compilations but in 1989 the band decided to split up. When the German festival Bang Your Head invited them in 2004 the band decided to reunite and now they finally have recorded a brand new album.

I would like to describe the sound of Ruffians as classic guitar driven US-metal with a touch of Judas Priest. Desert Of Tears is my first encounter with the band but I can't say that I'm sorry that I missed out their debut. Their new offering actually sounds like a lost recording from 1988 or something, the production is dry and without punch. For those of you who want the production old school this might not be a big issue however. The big problem with Desert Of Tears is the song writing and in fact it is only the last track Freedom that I can remember after several listening sessions. Freedom is quite epic and varied and has what the other songs lack; decent melodies. The rest of the album is boring to say the least; it is only the guitar riffs from the axemen aboard that catches my interest during this long 46 minute journey. This will for sure be a dust collector in my record shelf and if they can't come up with better songs next time I would advice the band members to let Ruffians rest in peace.

Production	Vocals	Compositions
4	5	4

Summary
4 chalices of 10 - Hawk