Review Summary: A posthumously released collection of studio demos that lacks the spark of their first two albums.
BADLANDS 3rd and final studio album is actually a collection of unfinished studio demos recorded between 1992 and 1993. This project was abandoned when their record company rejected these and the band disbanded shortly thereafter. After the untimely death of vocalist Ray Gillen in 1993, these demos surfaced in bootleg trading circles in notably poorer quality. Japanese label Pony Canyon remedied this by officially releasing this unfinished 3rd album in 1998.
I believe this album does require a forgiving ear to appreciate it more. I'll admit that I've always found DUSK to be gloomy in a way that befits its name and the circumstances that followed for the band. What made the first two Badlands so special was how the band created such vintage sounding hard rock in the mold of such classic bands as Deep Purple and Bad Company. Ray Gillen sounds great and Jake E. Lee plays a number of fine guitar solos without any backing rhythm tracks to hold things up.
There is still a bit of that funky hard rock goodness here ("The Jack", "The Fire Lasts Forever" & "Tribal Moon"), but even the good moments lack the extra spark that would catapult them to greatness. Many songs are rather somber and seems to reflect the mood of bands like Alice In Chains ("Sun Red Sun") and other grunge acts that were popular at the time. "The River" is a nice track, but seems particularly downcast in its lyrics:
"And I know the reasons why
Deep inside he's not alive
He was born by a river
You know he'll die by the river now
Cause deep inside my river's run dry"
I'll offer a "good" rating at best for Badlands fans who should be able to overlook the faults of this album, but it's probably just an average record for the unacquainted. Much of the problem with DUSK is the dry, rather flat sounding production, which reminds us again that these were "only demos" and not the finished product they'd intended. But there is also a lingering sense that the band knew they were reaching their premature and very unfortunate end.
