My first encounter with King Kobra was in 1985. I remember an interview with drummer and founder Carmine Appice that the concept was that of a reverse Mötley Crüe. At least he mentioned this as where the idea to have 4 blonde guys and him as the single black haired guy. That was in exact contrast to Mötley Crües three black haired guys and Vince Neils blonde hair. It sounds like a nice story but if it’s true or not… well you’d have to ask Carmine that.
At that time I was really into hard rock and as I remember it I really like the debut album. I can’t remember any details other than I liked it of course. So I guess it was an album that didn’t really got stuck to me. Something I would call an “ok” album today. dot good and not great but absolutely something that were an enjoyable listening.
A couple of weeks ago I came to think about King Kobra for some reason and felt the urge to finding something to listen to with them. I checked out what was available and found this – King Kobra II. It’s kind of confusing since Kong Kobras third album from 1988 was called King Kobra III and this is from 2013. Hmm… Well, the answer is that this is a new era of King Kobra. Carmine Disbanded King Kobra and it wasn’t until 2010 when the band emerged again. This time with a new singer but with mostly original members. So you can regard this as the second album och King Kobra mach II I guess.
I really like this album. It’s hard and melodic most of the time. I feel that there’s a song or two I think shouldn’t have left the studio. Some really weird psychedelic stuff. That’s not really my thing. But as long as they stick to bluesy hardrock I think they do a really fine job! If you missed this reunion, you should check out this album!
