Description

Perhaps one of the most underrated and overlooked Melodic Rock releases of the mid-80s was Tobruk’s Wild On The Run. Unfortunately, unless you were a Hard Rock aficionado back then, this one might have been released right under your nose without you ever hearing about it. Tobruk seemed to have several of the qualities that made Bon Jovi and Lita Ford so popular during the 1985 timeframe (when Wild On The Run was originally released). Heck, they even used the Bon Jovi and Lita Ford producer in one Lance Quinn (ever recognize the resemblance in the opening keyboard line of “Falling” to Bon Jovi’s “Runaway”? Coincidence?). Some say their shortcoming was due to where they originated … Birmingham, UK. Birmingham was one of the cities that gave Metal fans some of the bands popular in the “New Wave Of British Heavy Metal" (NWOBHM) era … an era that was losing ground, if not completely lost, by 1985. Perhaps the inhabitants of Birmingham, at the time, did not look upon an uprising “Melodic Hair Band” with much favor and considered Tobruk to sound “too American.” Even the mighty UK music magazine, KERRANG!, at the time only awarded Wild On The Run a paltry 1 and three-quarter “K's” out of five! Wild On The Run was originally only a nine-track release, but exceptional Melodic songs were abound, like the title track and one of the catchiest tracks of the era in “Falling,” making it even today a release worth owning. Tobruk’s songwriting was poised to make waves, at least in the USA, as Bon Jovi had already started to do so. Unfortunately, the band couldn’t break the hold of their “Motherland” even after releasing a follow-up release. Panic soon escalated and members started to leave the band for “richer pastures.” Sadly, in December of 2006 Tobruk vocalist Stuart ‘Snake’ Neale passed away from congestive heart failure. In 2001 the ‘Recaptured’ album was released compiling rare tracks, singles and even video footage. All audio tracks were recorded between 1981 and 1983 so this early material is much harder, more in the vein of the Nwobhm moment that they were part of then the later AOR music they played on their albums Track listing: 1. Rock My Way To You 2. Opening Night 3. Sinners Road 4. In Paradise 5. Colette 6. Looking At Love 7. Children 8. Wild On The Run 9. Motel Love 10. Rage Of Angels 11. The Show Must Go On 12. Rhapsody 13. Breakdown-video 14. Motel Love-video 15. Rebound-video