I never really expected how hard some of these artist deaths would hit me.
Growing up in a small town with no window to the metal world whatsoever, nobody who shared the passion, made it very difficult. I would buy CDs based on their cover, or ask the clerk who I should check out if I liked X band, or reading the thank-yous in the liner notes. No internet or MTV was tough on an eight year old who loved metal.
Firehouse was my first musical love. MINE - didn't know anyone who even knew who they were. To this day haven't met someone who dug them like I did. I'm not naive, I get that they were cheesy and we'rent metal by a long shot, but that doesn't mean they weren't great at what they did. Those first two albums, even half of 3, were legitimately great hard rock albums. I still spin tracks from hold your fire and S/T with some regularity.
CJ was a fucking powerhouse who shamed damn near every other vocalist of the era. Always compared him to Sebastian Bach, but where Sebastian was like a beast unchained, CJ's performances seemed to be from a seasoned veteran, showing a restraint and delicacy when needed that only the titans of rock vocalists are capable of.
I realize that this eulogy would probably make most of you cringe, for a band that were as cheesy as Firehouse, but sometimes its OK to just have fun. And Firehouse were always fun.
Cheers to a titan vocalist who will always be underrated, lead singer of a band far better than the ballads they were famous for.
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