House of Lords (Simmons) 1988House of
Lords
House of Lords was put together
by ex-Angel keyboardist Gregg Giuffria
along with vocalist James Christian (Canata), guitarist Lanny Cordola
(Giuffria), bassist Chuck Wright
(Impelliteri/Quiet Riot),
and drummer Ken Mary (Alice Cooper).
(The later three reuniting in 1994 in Magdalen)
The band's style is melodic/commercial metal with hints of '70s arena rock.
Both James Christian and Lanny Cordola have continued to release solo material,
as well as working with other bands, outside of House of Lords. Lanny has also
been seen on the sitcom Full House playing guitar in Jesse's (John Stamos) band
Jesse & the Rockers. In later incarnations of the band Tommy Aldridge (Pat
Travers/Whitesnake/Ozzy/Ted Nugent)
joined the band on drums. Gregg has once again disappeared and has apparently
decided to have nothing to do with the reunited Angel.
As of 2001 there have been a lot of rumors of a reunion of all the original members including Lanny Cordola and Gregg Giuffria.
House of Lords (Simmons) 1988
1. "Pleasure Palace"
(6:20)
2. "I Wanna Be Loved" (3:23)
3. "Edge of Your Life" (5:20)
4. "Lookin' for Strange" (4:04)
5. "Love Don't Lie" (4:20)
6. "Slip of the Tongue" (3:30)
7. "Hearts of the World" (4:17)
8. "Under Blue Skies" (4:36)
9. "Call My Name" (5:01)
10. "Jealous Heart" (3:43)
Hair metal to the maximum! House of Lords main claim to fame is Angel keyboardist Greg Guiffria. Gregg is one of the most underrated keyboardists in rock and for some reason, despite the fact that he has worked so hard for it, success has just not found him. The music on this debut is not without talent, but it doesn't contain a whole lot of hooks that are needed to get radio play. Actually this is probably one of the reasons I like them. I didn't really get into these guys until after hearing some of guitarist Lanny Cordola's solo albums. This album was also the first album, I believe, to be released on Gene Simmons' (Kiss) new record label, and the only band to gain some popularity. I guess all the House of Lords albums are now out of print.
Guitarist Lanny Cordola, bassist Chuck Wright, and drummer Ken Mary reunited in 1993 to form Magdalen)
House of Lords-Sahara (Simmons) 1990
1. "Shoot" (5:03)
2. "Chains of Love" (3:28)
3. "Can't Find My Way Home" (4:53)
4. "Heart of the Line" (4:00)
5. "Laydown Staydown" (4:09)
6. "Sahara" (5:38)
7. "It Ainít Love" (4:10)
8. "Remember My Name" (4:58)
9. "American Babylon" (4:29)
10. "Kiss of Fire" (3:27)
More of the same commercial hard rock. I usually hate this stuff, so I'm not sure why I like this band, but their music has a certain draw and they are certainly talented musicians. James Christian has a great gritty voice that fits well with the keyboard drenched pop metal. "Sahara" has a very cool opening with primitive sounding drum rhythms and some smoking guitar work. Once the opening is over, however, it's back to the straight forward melodic metal. This is the hardest of the three H.O.L. albums to find.
House of Lords-Demons Down (Victory) 1992
1. "O Father" (5:56)
2. "Demons Down" (3:35)
3. "What's Forever For" (4:37)
4. "Talkin' 'Bout Love" (4:51)
5. "Spirit of Love" (4:35)
6. "Down, Down, Down" (4:51)
7. "Metallic Blue" (5:07)
8. "Inside You" (5:39)
9. "Johnny's Got a Mind of His Own" (3:43)
10. "Can't Fight Love" (3:24)
Strike three and House of Lords still can't break down any commercial success doors. Still, the music is good, and the musicianship is even better. New drummer Tommy Aldridge (ex Pat Travers, Ozzy, Whitesnake, etc., etc.) is on board, but the music hasn't changed much, except for getting a tad bit blusier.