John West, replaced Ray Gillen in 1992...

[LouZ Profile]

I didn't call John West a 'wannabe'. It's in the liner notes of 'Dusk' under Jake's acknowledgements.

The liner note reads:
"I also look forward to someday paying back S. Baby, J. "Wannabe" West and last but top of the list, K "Bitchboy" Seaver."

I was just curious if anyone knew what that was related to.

[Olaf Profile]

John West is nothing short of one of the greatest voices in rock/metal. It is a shame that he has yet to land a top notch gig. He sings for Artension which is a real hit and miss band. The new Royal Hunt with him kicks butt, however some of the older Royal hunt is hit and miss. This guy needs to find a strong act to get with and get the props that he is entitled to.

[PoetsandMadmen Profile]

I didn't call John West a 'wannabe'. It's in the liner notes of 'Dusk' under Jake's acknowledgements.

The liner note reads:
"I also look forward to someday paying back S. Baby, J. "Wannabe" West and last but top of the list, K "Bitchboy" Seaver."

I was just curious if anyone knew what that was related to.

Well, I misunderstood your original post then, my bad. Maybe that was John's nickname then from the band, who knows? He probably referred to himself as that after standing in for Ray.

Regardless, the dude has a stellar voice, and I also agree with Olaf. He's probably better off playing along side Chris Caffery and Jeff Plate doing his solo stuff. The bands that West has been involved with in the past are very inconsistent, IMO.

[Shadow Profile]

John West has a beautiful Vocal range as does the late Blues Rocker Ray Gillen: I don't own any video nor audio samples/footages of John West performing w/BADLANDS but I do have the Trilogy Cd set of SUN RED SUN that pays Tribute respects to Vocalist Ray Gillen that Vocalist John West briefly appears on. And with all due respects I "love" Ray Gillen versions of those "Outrageous" Classic Hard Rock (I mean "heavy" songs!) songs: John West versions were pretty cool too but Ray Gillen took those songs with him to the Spirit In the Sky as he done with all those Classic Hard Rock/Bluesy BADLANDS gritty songs he so put his Heart N Soul into with his music bandmates (Jake, Greg, Eric & Jeff). Peace!

The Frankenstein (that's FEINSTEIN! Ooops, sorry!) - I bet I'm spelling it wrong but it's spelled something just like Frankenstein/his a Guitarist Musician (Ronnie James Dio cousin, I believe...-his awesome, too!) Well, Vocalist John West is in his band FEINSTEIN (That's fame Guitarist David Feinstein not Frankenstein...-hee, heee! Well, at least I got the 'Stein part right the first time. smile) and the album/Cd Feinstein "Third Wish" it's absolutely Rockin' fantastic: like I said John West/he has a breathtaking Vocal range too. Just thought I do some correcting here within the original re-ply post, thanks for your patience. Much respects!

[PoetsandMadmen Profile]

I do wish that we had some live footage of John fronting Badlands. Does anyone know if any exist?

[jimiforrest Profile Website]

I saw John West fronting an incarnation of Lynch Mob a few years back. He was great on some songs and others were a bit stressed. I would imagine this may have also been the case in Badlands. Great pipes tho.

Jimi

[PoetsandMadmen Profile]

I saw John West fronting an incarnation of Lynch Mob a few years back. He was great on some songs and others were a bit stressed. I would imagine this may have also been the case in Badlands. Great pipes tho.

Jimi

That would have been interesting to see too.

[seasons Profile]

Badlands never played a show with anyone but Ray, for the record.

I have the 3 demos they did with West and they are very average at best. He is a very average writer melody-wise. It would have been very boring had they continued with him. He has a decent voice but he's very unoriginal.

[Shadow Profile]

John West has a beautiful lyrical voice and is quite "origional" in his own unique rights: as I said in my re-ply post above which I strongly stand firm with that I don't own any music artifacts of John West performing with the gritty Trailblazer BADLANDS boys and I'm sure it wasn't an easy task trying to fill in Frontman/Vocalist Ray Gillen shoes so to speak (Mr. Gillen has incrediable Vocal range.) That is never easy for any musicians to fill in other shoes of great Music Artists that were there before & made an ever lasting imprint on the fans Heart but "many" musicians have done so in their own unique ways adding their own spice & inputs to the Music flame. I don't know the reasons why John West did not continue with Badlands maybe he wanted to devote/put his full attentions on forming his own band Royal Hunt at that time. In any event West has a really beautiful Vocal range and has done a "awesome" job showing his Vocal talents on FEINSTEIN's "Third Wish" album/Cd. Peace!

[stratattack Profile]

I still think West would have been A bad choise for Badlands Now Oni Logan would have been cool or maybe Joe Lyn Turner .

[Abarsis Profile]

I too have heard the Badlands demos with John West, and they're pretty forgettable.

I remember reading that they'd asked Rob LaMothe (Riverdogs) to replace Ray at one point, but that LaMothe was too much of a fan of Ray's to feel comfortable filling his shoes so he declined. Too bad, IMO, as that might have been a good fit.

Then I heard that a couple of years later there was talk about reforming Badlands with Robin "Kyle" Basauri (Die Happy/Red Sea) in place for Ray, (they got as far as tentatively planning rehearsals as I recall), but nothing ever came of it.

As much as I would love to see a reformed Badlands with a quality vocalist, at this point I'd say that we'll see the Second Coming of Christ before we see a reincarnated version of Badlands. Moreover, I'm actually quite happy with Jake's latest effort, and I would just love to see him move forward as a solo artist at this point.

[jimiforrest Profile Website]

Any of you with the John West (Badlands) demos care to share them with jakeelee.com? I'm sure Jeff (webmaster) would appreciate it.

Jimi

[gillenfan Profile]

Absolutely! I'd love a copy! Up for trading,as well. I don't have much, but willing to make a deal if need be.

[mrmetal Profile]

No doubt, I would like to hear it too.

[PoetsandMadmen Profile]

I too have heard the Badlands demos with John West, and they're pretty forgettable.

I remember reading that they'd asked Rob LaMothe (Riverdogs) to replace Ray at one point, but that LaMothe was too much of a fan of Ray's to feel comfortable filling his shoes so he declined. Too bad, IMO, as that might have been a good fit.

Then I heard that a couple of years later there was talk about reforming Badlands with Robin "Kyle" Basauri (Die Happy/Red Sea) in place for Ray, (they got as far as tentatively planning rehearsals as I recall), but nothing ever came of it.

As much as I would love to see a reformed Badlands with a quality vocalist, at this point I'd say that we'll see the Second Coming of Christ before we see a reincarnated version of Badlands. Moreover, I'm actually quite happy with Jake's latest effort, and I would just love to see him move forward as a solo artist at this point.

Wow, so are you saying there will be a definite Badlands reunion! I 100% believe in the second coming of Christ, so you've given me new hope to see Jake live now! Thanks dude!