Whether you call it hard rock, heavy metal, cock rock, hair metal, melodic rock, pop-metal, AOR, glam or sleaze, this is the place to find out what became of your favorite 80's rock bands.
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Whether you call it hard rock, heavy metal, cock rock, hair metal, melodic rock, pop-metal, AOR, glam or sleaze, this is the place to find out what became of your favorite 80's rock bands. |
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TNT: READY TO DETONATE: Screamer Magazine, October 1992 By Laura Morgan The past few years have been rather trying for TNT. In their three-year absence from the rock music scene, the band has changed record labels, replaced their original drummer and switched producers while recording, in order to finish the album the way they envisioned it. Yet, with their latest Atlantic release, Realized Fantasies, the band feels they are out of the woods and ready to shine again. TNT has reaffirmed their aspirations with a solid new effort that diehard fans should be eagerly anticipating. Through the perseverance and determination the group exhibited to make this album a reality, TNT is, in fact, finally realizing their fantasy. Luckily, their devoted listeners are welcome to come along and witness the exciting results. "Our last album (Intuition) was out in 1989, but we know there's definitely still lots of fans. We get tons of letters. People are still there. They can't wait to hear it and we can't wait to get back out and see everyone," asserts vocalist Tony Harnell. Comprised of California-born Harnell, New York drummer John Macaluso and Norwegians Ronni Le Tekro (guitar) and bassist Morty Black, the band feels secure about their new effort and its chance of success, which could be bolstered by their change of record labels. "Atlantic has a good record with hard rock bands. We bought ourselves out from [our previous label]. We didn't feel we were getting enough attention; they didn't understand what we were about or share our vision. I think Atlantic will prove them wrong," Harnell says. In addition, Harnell believes Macaluso has infused some new energy into the band and considers him a great drummer. "It's my Italian, Long Island background," Macaluso says jokingly. "Everyone knows we're the best drummers in the world (laughs). Besides, they are a real credible band. I heard them on KNAC (radio in Los Angeles) and I liked it; I liked waking up and hearing a good song. I was into that sort of hard rock with a melodic sound. It was obvious they were all good players, little did I know...." It seems doing the unusual has always come naturally for this progressive band. When faced with choosing a producer, the band picked well-known pop producer Ric Wake, who has worked with such artists as Mariah Carey and Taylor Dayne. Certainly this would appear an odd choice for TNT's hard-edged sound. "We wanted something new. We don't want to limit ourselves because we're always experimenting," explains Le Tekro. However, in the later stages of the recording process, the band did decide to take the record to another producer for some re-working. "There were some technical problems," Harnell interjects. "It wasn't so much a problem with Ric, but we weren't seeing eye to eye on some things. Toward the end we just had some different ideas about what sound we wanted. So before it was done we took it to Gary Lyons for some extra overdubs, rock sounds and re-mixing." The title, Realized Fantasies, has a more literal meaning than the story of TNT overcoming unfortunate obstacles and finally giving their public new material. "A friend of ours, Joe Lynn Turner, who did some background vocals on the album, gave us the idea," Harnell remarks. "He told us about this church in Greenwich Village called The Church Of Realized Fantasies. The Pope, or head of this place, gives out pot to people who need it for cancer or other things. But it also kind of fits because we didn't think this album was ever gonna get out." Make no mistake, Realized Fantasies is hard rock kept within the TNT tradition. The band has retained their experimental roots and mated musicianship with strong hooks and stunning melodies. On this outing, the band hopes to conquer new ground in the United States. "We've had huge international success, especially in Europe and Japan. To really break in the States is our remaining goal. We've always increased in sales from each album to the next, but for some reason America's been a little slower than other places," observes Le Tekro, "Maybe it's because hard rock is played less, or because our style can't be lumped in with a bunch of bands. Music is the most important thing to us. We were brought up on it, concentrated on it; it's more than shallow, surface stuff, it's what we feel, what the deepest parts of us are," Harnell elaborates. And what kind of success do they expect with the new album? "Lots of money and lots of girls. Huge. Unbelievable. We want the number to Nirvana's bank account," Le Tekro jokes. Realized Fantasies leaves no question that the TNT saga is far from finished. The band already has plans for a Scandinavian tour and will eventually invade the States. With this release containing their strongest material to date, it looks as if TNT may just finally achieve their explosive potential. Buy TNT CDs: |
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