#25 — Eisley/Goldy — Blood, Guts & Games

It was 1984 and I was anxiously awaiting any word on a new Journey album. There were rumors the band was breaking up and my 12 year old world wasn’t ready to be rocked by a breakup of my favorite band. The radio was on and I heard what I was sure was the new Journey song for the first time. It turns out it wasn’t Journey but a new band called Giuffria.

33 years later, two of the original members of Giuffria have reunited to form Eisley/Goldy who were the lead singer and guitar player from the band. I found out this record was coming out just a few weeks ago. I had high expectations going in. Would this record bring me back to that day as a 12 year old? The simple answer is no.

Eisley can still sing, although he’s lost a little something over the years (who hasn’t) and Goldy can still play. But this new album is a far cry from Giuffria. Stylistically, this record is a little more bluesy than I expected. And the songs are long — very long. The shortest song on the record is nearly 5 1/2 minutes with a few songs topping 7 minutes. Bands like Rush and Iron Maiden can get away with it, but there just isn’t enough here to keep my attention for that long.

In the end, these songs just aren’t memorable and they are seriously lacking in the chorus department. These songs leave me wanting for hooks that just aren’t there. There are a couple of good songs here including Soul of Madness and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, but overall, this album fell pretty short of my expectations.