RATINGS: A = must own B = buy it C= average D = yawn F = puke

Scandal - Warrior
Rock Candy Records
www.rockcandyrecords.com

Rating: C-

Scandal was a band created to be pop stars, mostly concerned with the smoky vocals of Patty Smyth.  She was good.  The band was good.  They album sold very well... over a million copies in the USA alone.  It worked for a time, as Scandal became pop stars with money, fame and all the trappings that go with it.

Inside the band people argued, and did things they probably should not have—that didn’t help.  Patty was the star, but the band was solid.  The songs were brought in, the band was molded… typical stuff in the entertainment industry.  Oh, they had a HUGE hit with the song “The Warrior.”  The annoying chorus is still floating through my brain cells decades later. The album also contained a song by the band Journey that they had not yet released, titled “Only the Young,” which makes this an interesting release.

Scandal was *ahem* scandalous, and they could not survive the industry pressure or even themselves.  Patty went on to be very famous, even rumored to have been invited to try out for Van Halen... the rest kinda faded away.  They were a good band, and there are some solid tunes, but time has not been too kind to Scandal.  Other than the hits, the sounds proved to be sustainable only in the era for which they were meant, the future was not to be their oyster.   

Rock Candy Records did a fine job in adding the Scandal E.P. on as bonus tracks.  They remastered the sound and put together an impressive CD booklet as well.   

If you’re a fan of Smyth and the band Scandal, then this special collector’s deluxe edition with great sound, and a booklet that contains new interviews, rare photos and a 3,000 word essay will be a must-own...for the rest of us, probably not.   

TRACK LISTING:
1. THE WARRIOR
2. BEAT OF THE HEART
3. HANDS TIED
4. LESS THAN HALF
5. ONLY THE YOUNG
6. ALL I WANT
7. TALK TO ME
8. SAY WHAT YOU WILL
9. TONIGHT
10. MAYBE WE WENT TOO FAR

BONUS TRACKS (SCANDAL E.P.)
11. GOODBYE TO YOU
12. LOVE’S GOT A LINE ON YOU
13. WIN SOME, LOSE SOME
14. SHE CAN’T SAY NO
15. ANOTHER BAD LOVE

By Jeb Wright