Vandenberg: Alibi(1985)

So 1985 rolls around and the boys in Vandenberg release Alibi. In what may come as a bit of  a shocker!  I don’t take the bait and buy Alibi upon it’s release!

Considering how much I loved and still do the self titled debut. The followup(Heading For A Storm) as you all know now after Friday’s post was way to similar to the debut. Perhaps maybe that’s why I turned the other cheek.

Than again their was so much music coming out that I had to be selective so fast forward 33 years (2018) and viola I finally heard Alibi for the first time ever….!

Once again like the previous two Vandenberg albums. Guitarist Adrian Vandenberg does everything. Adrian wrote all the tunes as well as did the album cover. The only thing he didn’t do was produce Alibi as that job went to Japp Engermont.

Alibi was an intersting listen as the band Vandenberg has been broken up since  1985-86 so hearing this album long after all this time was interesting knowing the outcome.

The outcome being that Singer Bert Heerink was given the boot and the band lost its record deal and Adrian joined Whitesnake in 1987. The band known as  Vandenberg was kaput!

But Before all of this….

I will give Adrian credit as he shifted gears somewhat musically with Alibi. Gone was the sound of the first two albums. In its place was the mid 80’s hard rock sound. Dokken like perhaps in spots.

The album opens with a straight ahead rocker like tracks in All The Way and Pedal to the Metal. Adrian I will say when soloing in his own band with his own songs is a phenomenal player as he smokes the fretboard with a Schenker like style which has always appealed to me and not playing a zillion notes per millisecond like that Malmsteem character! Also what stands out are the backing vocals  which sound huge which to my ears was a first on a Vandenberg album as well.

Most of the album  follows that formula of straight ahead rock but a couple of the slower tracks that being Once In A Lifetime and How Long have more of that what Foreigner was selling back in the 1980’s. These two tracks are so so. Vandenberg grasping for another hit like Burning Heart did 3 years earlier.

Adrian though flexes his muscle yet again with a classical guitar piece called Prelude Mortal. In a real interesting move Alibi ends with the 5 minute instrumental titled Kamikaze.

HEY! WE MAY NOT BE SELLING RECORDS ANYMORE BUT WE LOOK SNAZZY IN OUR COOL SWAG THAT WE STOLE FROM TBONE!

Alibi was an ok to decent listen. Adrian had a ton of pressure I’m sure as he was the sole writer of all the material.  The sound being a polished Vandenberg album but then again maybe the band were in freak out mode as within 4 years and 3 albums being released it was all over for them!