Babylon A.d.

When a trend is hot, you can safely assume that most major labels will want to get in on the action. In the late 1980s, glossy pop-metal was hot – and Arista tried to get in on the action by signing Babylon A.D., whose self-titled debut album draws on such influences as Def Leppard, Quiet Riot, and Bon Jovi.

Babylon A.D. are proud to be one of the few hard rock bands from the late ‘80s/early ‘90s that are still operating with all of their original members: Derek Davis, vocalist/songwriter, guitarists and songwriters, John Mathews and Ron Freschi, drummer Jamey Pacheco and bassist Robb Reid. The band formed in 1987 and to celebrate their 30th Anniversary, the band released their new album, Revelation Highway on November 10, 2017. Featuring 10 tracks of the energetic classic hard rock the band is known for, Revelation Highway is sure to please fans of the band’s classic early material.

More hard-rock than heavy metal, L.A.'s Babylon A.D. get the commercial sound right on Nothing Sacred, despite the tacky cover artwork. More muscular and real than most of the pop-metal to hit the charts in recent years, one can only hope that groups like this will continue to supplant Poison-type dross. The live-wire guitars on uptempo material like "Sacrifice Your Love" and "Psychedelic Sex Reaction" owe a debt to Michael Schenker from his UFO days; lead vocalist Derek (just Derek to you) sings as if life itself depended on every note; the group delivers powerful, memorable ballads on "So Savage the Heart" (serious hit material) and "Down on the River of No Return" without resorting to power-ballad cliché; and integrates some cool banjo picking on the Aerosmith-like "Dream Train."

More hard-rock than heavy metal, L.A.'s Babylon A.D. get the commercial sound right on Nothing Sacred, despite the tacky cover artwork. More muscular and real than most of the pop-metal to hit the charts in recent years, one can only hope that groups like this will continue to supplant Poison-type dross. The live-wire guitars on uptempo material like "Sacrifice Your Love" and "Psychedelic Sex Reaction" owe a debt to Michael Schenker from his UFO days; lead vocalist Derek (just Derek to you) sings as if life itself depended on every note; the group delivers powerful, memorable ballads on "So Savage the Heart" (serious hit material) and "Down on the River of No Return" without resorting to power-ballad cliché; and integrates some cool banjo picking on the Aerosmith-like "Dream Train."