Psycho ii

This ambitious video and musical project was co-ordinated by Tom Galley (brother of former Whitesnake guitarist Mel Galley) - the albums are concept affairs, centred on the theme of supernatural phenomena. However, utilizing an impressive list of guest musicians has not always guaranteed a good result, and Phenomena went some way towards proving this truism. With Neil Murray (bass), Cozy Powell (drums), Mel Galley (guitar) and Glenn Hughes (vocals) among the initial line-up, great things were evidently expected for Phenomena. However, the songs were often overtly complex and lacked a central melody line. Dream Runner, released two years later, suffered from similar problems, but the music was less of a disappointment.

The great irony with this release is that it was perhaps the most innovative and interesting on the Shrapnel label, yet received little attention until years later. Yngwie Malmsteen's influence on young guitarists produced an endless supply of technically competent, but largely uninspired, effigies. Mark Varney signed the German guitarist/composer Bernd Steidl, who had been studying at the Guitar Institute of Technology (GIT) in California, after hearing a demo tape. Released without much press or fanfare, the recording was only mildly successful within the guitar-shred community. Perhaps the reason for this was that the core American audience, primarily young, heavy metal-influenced guitar students, were not ready for the level of sophistication presented in this acoustic format.