Greg Chaisson thinks that the three Badlands albums have stood the test of time

Greg Chaisson thinks that the three Badlands albums have stood the test of time

Kings of Dust and former Badlands bassist Greg Chaisson was recently interviewed by Mark Rockpit for The Rockpit. Kings of Dust, which also features lead vocalist Michael Beck (ex-Red Dragon Cartel), drummer Jimi Taft and guitarist Ryan McKay, released their debut self-titled album two months ago.

Badlands released three records during their time consisting of Badlands (1989), Voodoo Highway (1991) and Dusk (1998). The latter album was released after singer Ray Gillen passed away in 1993 and consists of demos that the group recorded.

Chaisson was asked how he views the first two Badlands records now to which he stated: “Well it’s kind of weird to think it’s been that long since those records came out because in some ways it just seems like yesterday. But the fact that they still resonate with a lot of people is very gratifying. People still really seem to like it. Had we had better record company support and better initial management from our first manager who knows what would have happened? But it kind of is what it is. I’m very proud of the three records that we made, even the demos that made up “Dusk” I like all three of them, I think that basically they have stood the test of time and I couldn’t have been any happier to have been part of it.”

With respect to Gillen scathing some of the lyrics for the Dusk album, Chaisson indicated: “Yeah, he was, we went in there and he hadn’t even done writing the songs. Ray had actually arranged the studio, we didn’t even know we were going in. We got a call to say you’ve got to go to the studio and do these demos and we were gonna go on the road in a couple of days so we didn’t want to go but we went down there and we recorded each song one time. No overdubs, no nothing. I think that Jake and I were probably there for an hour and a half total and Ray sang them all live, there’s no vocals added later, he just sang it live. Some of the songs like ‘Walking Attitude’ and there’s a couple of other ones – he’s just kinda making it up as he goes along.”

You can read the rest of the interview with Greg Chaisson at The Rockpit‘s website.

Badlands‘ “Dreams In The Dark” video (from Badlands album):

Badlands – Dreams In The Dark, 1989

ALL COPYRIGHTS BELONG TO BADLANDS ©Tittle: “Dreams in the Dark”Album: “Badlands”Year: 1989Member: Ray Gillen – vocalJake E. Lee – guitarEric Singer – drumsGr…