Description
Check the exclusive video showing this LP for sale
Check the exclusive video showing this LP for sale
The whole album is killer. Produced by the great Vic Maile, it has a bit more variance in the guitar tones than the Guns’n’Roses clones that were around at the time – few almost ‘jangly’ parts on the slower songs. All the uptempo numbers absolutely rip! Joe Blanton’s voice is excellently raspy and has an awesome Nashville drawl. Lyrics are clever with a few humorous injections. “I had a vision, that I was Alice Cooper, and Johnny Rod rolled into one” – I assume he refers to bass player Johnny Rod from King Kobra/W.A.S.P. fame – who fucking references him of all people! I think that’s my favourite lyric of 1989 and this is close to my favourite album from that year also.
If you like your rock hard, heavy, exciting, noisy, with a serious element of rock ‘n roll, look no further than TRCOC. Largely unknown but so damn good. Just before you think that a rock band can’t come from Nashville, please reconsider. There is only one term for this band: “shit-hot”. Touring as support/opening act for REO Speedwagon, they regularly upstaged them. Really tight and creative rock band that verges ever so slightly on metal. If you ever see this record BUYÂ it!
This is the official video for the song “Half The Truth”
video review of the album!
10 track album
label: A&M Records 1989
pressing: West Germany
style: US Hard Rock
“”The second album regained the edge and had a larger audience with the change to a harder rock sound and we also had Vic Maille producing. I think having the perspective of a seasoned veteran at the helm brought out the best performances in us all individually and as a whole. He suggested things that we would have never thought of and he never tried to tone us down. Stylistically, the band was very eclectic but I think he managed to meld the influences together enough to create a cohesive album. He also liked to keep it raw and not over-produce things. 8 out of 10 of the lead vocals that made it to the album were the original scratch tracks. Chris played extremely fast on songs like Geared & Primed and Tijuana Go (a song from The Enemy days) and I loved that. Drew had a great raw bass tone and played a Vantage bass with a Whammy bar on it. Very cool stuff. My guitar was actually heard on this record. Whether that’s good or bad is a matter of opinion but I liked it!””
‘Half the Truth’ was one clip that caught my attention (directed by Sam Raimi and produced by Bruce Campbell of Evil Dead fame for all you trivia buffs) – it was one of the most rockin’ songs of ’89 – fucken blistering!
Format:Â Â Vinyl, LP, Album
Country:Europe
Released:Â 1989
Genre: Rock   Hard Rock
A1 Geared And Primed 2:50
A2 Half The Truth 4:01
A3 It Came Crashing Down The Staircase 3:49
A4 Six Empty Bottles 4:35
A5 Mr. Indecision 2:56
B1 Tijuana Go!
<——Â Â (CHECK WHOLE SONG)Â Â Â 3:03
B2 Dragon Park 3:22
B3 So, Yer Love Is True 4:31
B4 This Time Around 4:37
B5 Take Me Down 3:01
Total Running Time:Â Â 36:45
Vic Maile (Motorhead, The Who) produced and engineered the album with Brian Jenkins as second engineer at Sound City in Van Nuys, California. G&P was recorded over six-weeks in the summer of 1988. Joe and Chris enlisted bassist Drew Cornutt and lead guitarist Josh Weinberg after Robert and Oscar left the band early in the year. The album was mixed in Memphis by Joe Hardy at Ardent Studios. Jeff Mays replaced Josh during mixing and played lead on Dragon Park. (Trivia) The band lived in a big house in Nashville across from a park with a huge mosaic dragon where local kids tripped. The album was mastered by Howie Weinberg at Masterdisk, NY. Cover design is credited to John Eder and The RCC with Joe creating the logo, John Eder taking the photos and F. Ron Miller on design. (note) The band hated the colors chosen for the album. Steve Ralbovsky and Brian Huttenhower were A&R. We credited our road crew on the album, Darryl Pinkerman, Dan Reed, Jim Wakefield, Marc Patch and our tour manager, B. Ashley Swann, as we spent more time with them than our families during this time.
The albums first single “”Half the Truth”” was released in Jan. 1989 and reaches #76 on the R&R charts. (Trivia) During the recording of Half the Truth, Josh was having
trouble finding the inspiration for the solo and we had been listening to him try things all day. I finally said, “”Hell, just play Dixie or something!”” He jokingly played it and Vic said…””That’s It!”” The albums title track, “”Geared & Primed””, was released to radio during the summer but never gained any traction. A&M released “”Love Long Gone,”” a previously unreleased track from the G&P sessions as part of the “”Lost Angels”” soundtrack album.(Trivia) “”Vampires”” was also recorded during the sessions and never released.
The 1989 “Geared And Primed” was almost a 180 ° turn. With their second album, Royal Court Of China joined the then hip glam / sleaze rock, “Geared And Primed” was probably an attempt to gain attention and deserved success. Although Royal Court of China musically, lyrically and optically went into the Sleaze Rock, you will find in the songs of “Geared And Primed” still enough reminiscence to their predecessor, which is compact in a contemporary soiled sound, by Vic Maile (Girlschool , motörhead) was produced. It may be the last album produced by him: he died of cancer in 1989.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Another rocking RCOC album,
1989’s Geared & Primed is the second album from Nashville-based rockers Royal Court of China. The band’s 1987 self-titled debut is one of my favorite `80s rock albums, and Geared & Primed follows the same hair metal meets Southern rock formula. It’s an interesting mix of L.A. Guns, The Front, Steve Jones and Electric-era The Cult. This time around though, the band (or maybe the label) seemed more aware of hair metal’s popularity, so the sound leans heavily in that direction.
The first Royal Court of China album had more heart, but Geared & Primed is a totally enjoyable, totally rocking album full of upbeat odes to hard drinking and fast living. If you’re a fan of the more rowdy `80s bands like Junkyard, Tangier, Badlands and the like, you’ll want to give Royal Court of China a try.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Turn It Up!,
Royal Court of China’s 2nd album “”Geared And Primed”” is a total 360 degree different effort then their debut. Hard rock or “”Hair”” rock was the fashion in ’89. Produced by famed producer the late Vic Maile, RCOC still came up with some excellent tracks. On this CD RCOC lost 2 members from their debut, Robert Logue and Oscar Rice. Key tracks here:
The title track, “”Half The Truth””-Just a great track, has that “”look away dixieland”” phrase in this song. This song should of broke this band wide open, great vocal by Joe Blanton! Video is on YouTube. Played on my local rock station in the day. “”It Came Crashing Down”” – Nice mid tempoed rocker, the play on words “”Tijuana Go!”” excellent hard rock. “”So Yer Love Is True””- The wah wah guitar by Jeff Mays with some fine vocals by Joe, nice bass by Drew Cornutt, this could of been a great radio track. And the album closer “”Take Me Down”” – A good rocker. Not as good as the first, but still a good RCOC release. I think they really missed Robert Logue.(IMHO). (36 minutes) This would be their last album. The Band: Chris Mekow Drums, Joe Blanton Vocals and Guitar, Jeff Mays Lead Guitar and Drew Cornutt Bass.”
great songs, great singer, great musicians…this is one of the best rock hard band I know. A MASTERPIECE: if you find it buy it!!! |
excellent absolutely excellent, its a rarity to find and i have it! |
 R.C.0.China are hard, the singer’s voice is powerful and guitar attacks. Their first cd was pop but this one kills. |
I must say this was a surprise find. Never heard of them (awful band name imo) but I was very impressed with the overall quality of this album. Great production, vocals, and guitar work. The songs were good but you get this INXS vibe throughout while listening to it. Odd but good with tracks 1,4,5,6,and 8 being my favs. |
 Smashed Gladys, Company Of Wolves, Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction, Peer Gûnt, Circus of Power, Waltari. |
The Royal Court was formed from another band called The Enemy. Chris Mekow and Joe Blanton lost their lead guitar player and bass player at the same time when their Lead guitar player left to form a band called Knocking On Joe. They stole the members of his band, who happened to be Robert Logue and Oscar Rice. They played as The Enemy for 2 months, opening for 10,000 Maniacs, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Alex Chilton before changing our name to The Royal Court of China. Robert Logue found the name in a magazine interview of The Firm (Page and Rodgers first wanted to call the band, “The Royal Court of China.”) They decided to take the name for themselves. Impressive local gigging and the self-financed Off The Beat ‘n’ Path EP led to a contract with A&M Records, but with Logue and Rice’s penchant for a folkier sound, the album tended more towards R.E.M. in style than the hard rock direction that the other two preferred, and following a tour with REO Speedwagon, the band split. Robert and Oscar left the band after the first album. With the folk influences gone, Chris and Joe reformed the band with members that were into Hard Rock. Drew Cornutt joined the band as their bass player. They were also allowed to explore a harder edged sound with British producer Vic Maille (Motorhead) on the Geared & Primed album. Chris and Joe went back to playing Rock and Roll the way they played it with The Enemy, except hey were better players after a year of touring and recording. Jeff Mays, who only appears on the song Dragon Park, was a pure metal head and could shred the guitar. When it was time to choose a director for Half the Truth, A&M suggested Sam Raimi, who had just finished the Cold Metal video for A&M label mate Iggy Pop. They immediately agreed!! Sam Raimi only directed 2 videos in his career. Theirs and Iggy’s. The whole crew of the Evil Dead worked on their video, Sam Raimi, his brother Ted and Bruce Campbell. Bruce was listed as the Producer of the video. But the adventure stopped with A&M shortly after the release of Geared & Primed. A&M was in the process of being sold to Polygram and the person who signed them, A&M VP of A&R David Anderle, had moved on to head up the label’s movie division. The second album sold over twice the amount of the first but failed to achieve the commercial success expected by the label and they mutually decided it was time for the band to move on.
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