Blue Murder is the debut album by English hard rock band Blue Murder, released on 24 April 1989 by Geffen Records. It was produced by Bob Rock. The band was formed by guitarist John Sykes after his dismissal from Whitesnake. He was eventually joined by bassist Tony Franklin and drummer Carmine Appice. The band entered Little Mountain Sound Studios in early 1988 to begin recording their debut album. After several unsuccessful attempts at finding a lead singer, John Sykes took up the role, having already sung the band's first demos. Following the record's release, Blue Murder embarked on tours supporting Bon Jovi and Billy Squier.
Despite a positive reception from music critics, who touted the band's musicianship and Rock's production, the album underperformed commercially, only peaking at number 45 in the UK and number 69 in the US. Its failure has since been attributed to a variety of internal problems, including a lack of proper promotion, mismanagement and poor business decisions by the band. However, the record has garnered a small cult following since its release. In 2013, it was reissued and remastered by Rock Candy Records.
Background
In 1986, guitarist John Sykes was fired from the English hard rock group Whitesnake by the band's lead vocalist David Coverdale. Sykes had recently finished recording the group's eponymous album, which he co-wrote with Coverdale. The album would go on to achieve multi-platinum status and peak at number two on the Billboard 200 chart. Sykes retreated to his home studio in Blackpool, England, where he started writing new material. Eager to prove himself, Sykes began putting together a new band in February 1987. Last was singer Ray Gillen, who had previously fronted Black Sabbath for a short time. After solidifying their line-up, the band headed to Spain to record some demos, which were then sent to Geffen Records, with whom Sykes had worked with while in Whitesnake. A&R executive John Kalodner was unimpressed by Gillen's performance, preferring the initial demos that Sykes had sung. Due to Rock's prior engagements with Bon Jovi and The Cult, recording was halted after six weeks, which allowed the band to audition more singers. Among them were David Glen Eisley and Derek St. Holmes. Their logo was designed by graphic artist Margo Chase. The album's packaging featured photographs of the band dressed in pirate attire. Originally, the group had wished for a simple black and white photo, but Geffen insisted on shooting in colour. When asked why they were dressed as pirates, Sykes jokingly responded: "You know, now there are so many album covers with shiny photos of fashionable clothes; better pirate clothes then!" Sykes described the band's sound in an interview with Raw magazine as having elements of both Whitesnake and Thin Lizzy, as well as the blues.
The song "Billy" was described by Sykes as his "Thin Lizzy track", with lyrics inspired by the 1949 film White Heat. "Valley of the Kings" draws from Egyptian culture, while "Jelly Roll" was inspired by a former relationship of Sykes's. Despite being credited as a co-writer on "Valley of the Kings", Tony Martin has stated that he actually co-wrote a significant portion of the record with Sykes, but was not credited.
Release and promotion
Blue Murder was released on 24 April 1989. To promote the record, the band made appearances on MTV's Hard 60 and The Big Al Show, hosted by "Weird Al" Yankovic. They then embarked on an American tour supporting Bon Jovi. Later they performed on a triple-bill tour with Billy Squier and King's X. Blue Murder also played several headline dates in America and Japan. Due to unspecified management issues, a European tour never materialized. It debuted at number 172 on the Billboard 200 chart, eventually peaking at number 69 in June 1989. According to Carmine Appice, the album only sold around 150,000 copies in the United States. Worldwide, the record sold approximately 500,000 copies, according to John Sykes. In 2013, Blue Murder was reissued by Rock Candy Records. The reissue featured a remastered version of the album, a 3,500 word essay by Malcolm Dome and an interview with John Sykes. The initial pressings listed a tenth song, titled "Cold Harbor", as part of the content. This was, however, a misprinting and no such song appears on the album.
Blue Murder's success fell short of expectations, as the sales for their debut album disappointed both the band and label.
"Jelly Roll" was released as the second single from the album. A music video, directed again by Mary Lambert, was shot over the course of two days in North Los Angeles. The song became a minor hit, reaching number fifteen on the Album Rock Tracks chart. However, due to the failure of "Valley of the Kings", MTV refused to play the video for "Jelly Roll", which Franklin felt prevented it from becoming a crossover hit.
| rev2 = Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal
| rev2Score = 7/10
| rev3 = Hi-Fi News & Record Review
| rev3Score = A:2
| rev4 = Kerrang!
| rev4score =
| rev5 = Raw
| rev5score = 10/10
| rev6 = Record Collector
| rev6score =
| rev7 = Rock Hard
| rev7score = 9/10
Contemporary reviews for the album were mostly positive. Raws Paul Suter gave Blue Murder a ten out of ten rating, and called it one of "the finest records in an age". He gave special praise to Bob Rock's production and commended the band's musicianship, particularly Sykes's guitar playing, which he thought elevated him to the same level as Ritchie Blackmore and Jimmy Page. while Neil Jeffries of Kerrang! hailed it as a "masterpiece", giving it a perfect score. He characterized Sykes's vocals as "shrill" and his guitar playing "hyperactive", while tracks like "Jelly Roll" and "Out of Love" were described as "bloated" and "weepy", respectively. The Tennessean labeled the album "merely derivative hard rock, virtually indistinguishable from that of a hundred other bands."
Retrospective reviews for the album have been largely positive, and the record has garnered a small cult following. Ultimate Classic Rock named Blue Murder the sixth best album produced by Bob Rock, while MetalSucks included it on a list of essential hair metal albums not included on a similar list by Rolling Stone.
Track listing
All songs written and composed by John Sykes, except where indicated.
{|
|valign=top|
;Blue Murder
- John Sykes – guitars, lead and backing vocals
- Tony Franklin – bass, backing vocals
- Carmine Appice – drums, backing vocals
;Additional musicians
- Nik Green – keyboards
- John Webster – additional keyboard programming
- Marc LaFrance – additional backing vocals
- David Steele – additional backing vocals
|valign=top|
;Technical
- Bob Rock – production
- Mike Fraser – engineering, mixing
- Chris Taylor – assistant engineering
- Ken Lomis – assistant engineering
- Jim Champagne – mixing assistant
- David Donnelly – mastering supervisor
- Dan Hersch – compact disc mastering
- John Golden – album mastering
|valign=top|
;A&R
- John Kalodner – A&R
;Design
- Gabrielle Raumberger – art direction, design
- Maria DeGrassi – design
- Margo Chase – logo
- Aaron Rapaport – photography
|valign=top|
;Reissue
- Steve Hammonds – product management
- Jon Astley – remastering
- Julia Melanie Goode – creative direction
|}
Charts
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! Chart (1989)
! Peak<br />position
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Release history
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|+Release formats for Blue Murder
|-
!scope="col" | Region
!scope="col" | Date
!scope="col" | Label
!scope="col" | Format
!scope="col" | Ref.
|-
!scope="row"| Various
|scope="row"| 24 April 1989
|scope="row" rowspan="3"| Geffen
|scope="row"|
|scope="row"|
|-
|scope="row"| 18 January 2012
|scope="row"| SHM-CD
|scope="row"|
|-
!scope="row"| UK
|scope="row"| April 2013
|scope="row"| Rock Candy
|scope="row"| CD
|scope="row"|