New Wave of British Heavy Metal legends White Spirit are set to release their “lost” second album in July.
Back in 1980 the band released their self-titled debut and it was an instant classic of the genre. It remains one of my favourite albums to this day.
Fresh, ambitious, different as it brought in a great mixture of prog/pomp in with the NWOBHM. And they had the great Janick Gers on guitar.
Then it fell apart for White Spirit. Gers shot off to join Gillan and other changes in personnel saw a new vocalist arrive in the form of a then unknown Brian Howe.
The new line-up started to record a new album with Howe though it was not finished. White Spirit became no more and Howe went on to front Bad Company post-Paul Rogers.
The good news is that now, some forty years later, the tapes from the recording sessions have surfaced which include Howe’s vocals. Apparently the quality of the four decades old tapes was, quite understandably, no great even after the application of modern restoration techniques.
The solution dreamed up by band members Mick Tucker and Malcolm Pearson was to re-record the musical parts with Neal Murray on bass and Russell Gilbrook on drums.
The album is titled Right or Wrong and is slotted for a release in July. Before that there is a single – Runaway – to enjoy. Howe’s vocals are fresh and melodic with the song being pure 1980s feel good upbeat rock typical of the decade. Here it is:
So good to have White Spirit back and the album to look forward to in a few months. I understand that Mick Tucker and Malcolm Pearson are actively writing another album with plans for live shows in the works.
Their self-titled debut album has a Japanese import release recently. Grab it if you can:
>> WHITE SPIRIT DEBUT ALBUM ON AMAZON <<
There is an older version of it on CD which includes a bonus disc of demos and whatnot including some with Howe on vocals. However it’s quite rare now and very hard to find.