Tora Tora - Wild America (1992) (Bad Reputation Records Edition 2018)
Posted: 15 Jul 2025, 07:28
Tora Tora - Wild America (1992) (Bad Reputation Records Edition 2018)
Year : 1992 (Bad Reputation Records Edition 2018)
Style : Melodic Hard Rock
Country : United States
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans + Video
Size : 172 mb
Bio:
Tora Tora is an American hard rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, in 1985. "Tora" means "tiger" in Japanese and the name is a play on the code name for attack used by the Japanese Imperial Navy during their attack on Pearl Harbor, "Tora, Tora, Tora". The actual origin of the band name was more likely a reference to the song of the same name recorded by Van Halen on their 1980 release Women and Children First.Tora Tora started out as a local garage band then eventually got studio time when they won a local Battle of the Bands contest. Following this, the band recorded To Rock To Roll as an independent EP. After its release the songs "Phantom Rider" and "Love's A Bitch" received extensive airplay on local radio station Rock 98. After signing with A&M Records, they recorded their debut album Surprise! Attack in 1989. This album peaked on Billboard's Top 200 at No. 47 and featured the singles "Walkin' Shoes" and "Guilty." The single "Dancing With a Gypsy" was on the soundtrack for the film Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure later that year.In 1992, their second album, Wild America, was released. It only achieved No. 134 on the Billboard charts and it did not sell as well, but, it was a more mature step at songwriting.A third album, Revolution Day, was recorded in 1994, but it was never released due to label restructuring. After missing the due date, the band folded.In 2008, all four original band members reunited to do several performances. One was a sold out performance at Newby's, a local club in Memphis, to celebrate their 20th anniversary of receiving their recording contract. After the show, a record was sold to fans which included songs from their first two albums and material slated for their unreleased Revolution Day album. The album was titled The Warehouse... 20 Years Later. The second occurred during Rocklahoma 2008. The band played another reunion show at The New Daisy Theatre on March 7, 2009, in Memphis.At the end of 2009, Tora Tora signed with the Nashville, Tennessee based FNA Records and released three albums. Before & After, Bombs Away: The Unreleased Surprise Attack Recordings, and Miss B. Haven': The Unreleased Wild America Recordings.On February 28, 2011, FNA Records in conjunction with the band decided after 17 years since the completion of their third album, which was shelved indefinitely at the time due to label complications, to release their "lost album" Revolution Day. Anthony Corder stated about the Revolution Day Sessions:
Album:
Here’s in full quality French reissue label Bad Reputation remastered version of 1992’s TORA TORA album “Wild America“, delivered with their usual pristine sound plus 5 juicy, collectors bonus tracks.After their catchy ’89 debut album, for their second effort Tora Tora took a more traditional hard rock approach, much harder-hitting and less ‘glammy’.According times (1991-92) in “Wild America” Tora Tora have traded in much of the party melodic hard attitude that they displayed in their debut album for a more focused, tight, and mature sound. However, on this second CD there’s even more sing-a-long songs, and the catchy factor is still delivered in spades.For one thing, vocalist Anthony Corder gained more control over his wild and high-pitched voice, having better discretion with when to rein it in and when to let it loose. Every musician in this album improved, most notably guitarist Keith Douglas with some excellent solos and subtle yet brilliant fills inserted into most of the songs.The band also honed their blues-obsessed sound and really got interesting with it, with some songs even featuring pianos, harmonicas, and acoustic guitar.The best way to describe “Wild America” would be to take 2 parts Tesla, 1 part Cinderella, and 1 part Great White, yet Tora Tora had their own personality, and if you ask me, some songs here are even better than many of these mentioned acts.How can a recipe like that fail? Well, unfortunately for Tora Tora, this timeless kind of hard rock started to fade away in the US market when the album was released – but artistically this is a winner.This is an album to be enjoyed as a whole, but if I have to mention my favorites, the midtempo bluesy magic of “Faith Healer” takes the prize.Other standouts include “Amnesia” and “Dirty Secrets,” which are just undeniably groovy and hard rocking songs. “Amnesia” has particularly great snotty lyrics that remind me of Tora Tora’s arguably biggest hit ‘Walkin’ Shoes’ with lines like, “If you think I still need you, well, you’ve got amnesia” and “You said you was just talkin’ to a friend.”There’s brilliant upbeat outlaw track in “Dead Man’s Hand” driven by smooth riffs that even features a saxophone and brings back a lot of that swagger and personality that the band showed in their debut album, and “Nowhere to Go But Down,” a dark and beautiful acoustic-laced ballad.As bonus tracks we have the B-Sides taken from the now impossible to find 3 CDsingles released from the record: these songs are “Walkin’ Shoes”, “Love’s A Bitch” and “Hard Times”, all appeared in Tora tora’s first album but here in different versions (remixed?) As plus there’s a rare remix of “Faith Healer” and the exclusive song Tora Tora recorded for “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” movie soundtrack.From start to finish “Wild America [Bad Reputation remaster +5]” is a great, classic hard rock record that really stands up as a lost, overlooked early 90s US rock.Tora Tora clearly matured from their first album and put together a bunch of excellently-performed, top tier classy hard rock songs. Like many ’80s glam metal bands, when the genre started to fade out in the early Nineties, Tora Tora shed their poppy inclinations and married themselves to a heavier, bluesier, and more mature sound. And it worked out very well for them.I would probably put this in line with Tesla’s ‘The Great Radio Controversy’ as far as how well it was written, performed and produced.“Wild America” was reissued / remastered during the past decade (out of print now) but this Bad Reputation Records remastering sound blows out of the water any previous version of this rocking CD.
Line-Up:
Anthony Corder – lead and backing vocals
Keith Douglas – guitars
Patrick Francis – bass
John Patterson – drums, percussion
production:
Recorded At – Ardent Studios
Mixed At – Ardent Studios
Performer – Tora Tora
Written-By – Anthony Corder, Keith Douglas (4), Patrick Francis (3) (tracks: 4 to 6, 11), Stan Lynch (tracks: 3, 10), Taylor Rhodes (tracks: 2, 8), Thomas Howard* (tracks: 1)
Tracklist:
01. Wild America
02. Amnesia
03. Dead Man’s Hand
04. As Time Goes By
05. Lay Your Money Down
06. Shattered
07. Dirty Secrets
08. Faith Healer
09. Cold Fever
10. Nowhere To Go But Down
11. City Of Kings
12. Dancing With a Gypsy (Bonus Track)
13. Walkin’ Shoes (Bonus Track)
14. Love’s a Bitch (Bonus Track)
15. Hard Times (Bonus Track)
16. Faith Healer (Remix) (Bonus Track)
+ Video "Amnesia" (Official Video)
Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
Year : 1992 (Bad Reputation Records Edition 2018)
Style : Melodic Hard Rock
Country : United States
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans + Video
Size : 172 mb
Bio:
Tora Tora is an American hard rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, in 1985. "Tora" means "tiger" in Japanese and the name is a play on the code name for attack used by the Japanese Imperial Navy during their attack on Pearl Harbor, "Tora, Tora, Tora". The actual origin of the band name was more likely a reference to the song of the same name recorded by Van Halen on their 1980 release Women and Children First.Tora Tora started out as a local garage band then eventually got studio time when they won a local Battle of the Bands contest. Following this, the band recorded To Rock To Roll as an independent EP. After its release the songs "Phantom Rider" and "Love's A Bitch" received extensive airplay on local radio station Rock 98. After signing with A&M Records, they recorded their debut album Surprise! Attack in 1989. This album peaked on Billboard's Top 200 at No. 47 and featured the singles "Walkin' Shoes" and "Guilty." The single "Dancing With a Gypsy" was on the soundtrack for the film Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure later that year.In 1992, their second album, Wild America, was released. It only achieved No. 134 on the Billboard charts and it did not sell as well, but, it was a more mature step at songwriting.A third album, Revolution Day, was recorded in 1994, but it was never released due to label restructuring. After missing the due date, the band folded.In 2008, all four original band members reunited to do several performances. One was a sold out performance at Newby's, a local club in Memphis, to celebrate their 20th anniversary of receiving their recording contract. After the show, a record was sold to fans which included songs from their first two albums and material slated for their unreleased Revolution Day album. The album was titled The Warehouse... 20 Years Later. The second occurred during Rocklahoma 2008. The band played another reunion show at The New Daisy Theatre on March 7, 2009, in Memphis.At the end of 2009, Tora Tora signed with the Nashville, Tennessee based FNA Records and released three albums. Before & After, Bombs Away: The Unreleased Surprise Attack Recordings, and Miss B. Haven': The Unreleased Wild America Recordings.On February 28, 2011, FNA Records in conjunction with the band decided after 17 years since the completion of their third album, which was shelved indefinitely at the time due to label complications, to release their "lost album" Revolution Day. Anthony Corder stated about the Revolution Day Sessions:
Album:
Here’s in full quality French reissue label Bad Reputation remastered version of 1992’s TORA TORA album “Wild America“, delivered with their usual pristine sound plus 5 juicy, collectors bonus tracks.After their catchy ’89 debut album, for their second effort Tora Tora took a more traditional hard rock approach, much harder-hitting and less ‘glammy’.According times (1991-92) in “Wild America” Tora Tora have traded in much of the party melodic hard attitude that they displayed in their debut album for a more focused, tight, and mature sound. However, on this second CD there’s even more sing-a-long songs, and the catchy factor is still delivered in spades.For one thing, vocalist Anthony Corder gained more control over his wild and high-pitched voice, having better discretion with when to rein it in and when to let it loose. Every musician in this album improved, most notably guitarist Keith Douglas with some excellent solos and subtle yet brilliant fills inserted into most of the songs.The band also honed their blues-obsessed sound and really got interesting with it, with some songs even featuring pianos, harmonicas, and acoustic guitar.The best way to describe “Wild America” would be to take 2 parts Tesla, 1 part Cinderella, and 1 part Great White, yet Tora Tora had their own personality, and if you ask me, some songs here are even better than many of these mentioned acts.How can a recipe like that fail? Well, unfortunately for Tora Tora, this timeless kind of hard rock started to fade away in the US market when the album was released – but artistically this is a winner.This is an album to be enjoyed as a whole, but if I have to mention my favorites, the midtempo bluesy magic of “Faith Healer” takes the prize.Other standouts include “Amnesia” and “Dirty Secrets,” which are just undeniably groovy and hard rocking songs. “Amnesia” has particularly great snotty lyrics that remind me of Tora Tora’s arguably biggest hit ‘Walkin’ Shoes’ with lines like, “If you think I still need you, well, you’ve got amnesia” and “You said you was just talkin’ to a friend.”There’s brilliant upbeat outlaw track in “Dead Man’s Hand” driven by smooth riffs that even features a saxophone and brings back a lot of that swagger and personality that the band showed in their debut album, and “Nowhere to Go But Down,” a dark and beautiful acoustic-laced ballad.As bonus tracks we have the B-Sides taken from the now impossible to find 3 CDsingles released from the record: these songs are “Walkin’ Shoes”, “Love’s A Bitch” and “Hard Times”, all appeared in Tora tora’s first album but here in different versions (remixed?) As plus there’s a rare remix of “Faith Healer” and the exclusive song Tora Tora recorded for “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” movie soundtrack.From start to finish “Wild America [Bad Reputation remaster +5]” is a great, classic hard rock record that really stands up as a lost, overlooked early 90s US rock.Tora Tora clearly matured from their first album and put together a bunch of excellently-performed, top tier classy hard rock songs. Like many ’80s glam metal bands, when the genre started to fade out in the early Nineties, Tora Tora shed their poppy inclinations and married themselves to a heavier, bluesier, and more mature sound. And it worked out very well for them.I would probably put this in line with Tesla’s ‘The Great Radio Controversy’ as far as how well it was written, performed and produced.“Wild America” was reissued / remastered during the past decade (out of print now) but this Bad Reputation Records remastering sound blows out of the water any previous version of this rocking CD.
Line-Up:
Anthony Corder – lead and backing vocals
Keith Douglas – guitars
Patrick Francis – bass
John Patterson – drums, percussion
production:
Recorded At – Ardent Studios
Mixed At – Ardent Studios
Performer – Tora Tora
Written-By – Anthony Corder, Keith Douglas (4), Patrick Francis (3) (tracks: 4 to 6, 11), Stan Lynch (tracks: 3, 10), Taylor Rhodes (tracks: 2, 8), Thomas Howard* (tracks: 1)
Tracklist:
01. Wild America
02. Amnesia
03. Dead Man’s Hand
04. As Time Goes By
05. Lay Your Money Down
06. Shattered
07. Dirty Secrets
08. Faith Healer
09. Cold Fever
10. Nowhere To Go But Down
11. City Of Kings
12. Dancing With a Gypsy (Bonus Track)
13. Walkin’ Shoes (Bonus Track)
14. Love’s a Bitch (Bonus Track)
15. Hard Times (Bonus Track)
16. Faith Healer (Remix) (Bonus Track)
+ Video "Amnesia" (Official Video)
Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/