Zebra IV

It's hard to believe that Zebra has been around since the mid 1970's and only have one gold record to their credit. They are a much underrated group of musicians that have gone virtually unnoticed yet retain a strong cult following of fans, especially within the New York club circuit area. They are a three piece Zeppelin influenced hard rock band that originated from New Orleans. They have released three studio albums, two live albums and a best of since they were formed. "Zebra IV" is the first studio album in almost 17 years! The amazing aspect of this album is how Zebra's music sounds just a fresh today as it did back in 1986, like it has never aged.. With that in mind "Zebra IV" is sure to be an unexpected pleasure to long time fans of the band as well as acquiring some new ones.. Zebra's distinctive and trademark sound not only uses electrical guitars but incorporates alot of acoustical guitars (12 string) and some keyboards at times to give their music more of the progressive feel. Vocally, Randy Jackson sounds like mix between Robert Plant and King Diamond meets The Bee Gees when he uses the falsetto. He has an excellent octave range and voice overall. Jackson is also a phenomenal guitar player and key song writer for the band. The songs definitely fit the style of those found on previous Zebra releases. The keyboards seem to be used more for underlying enhancement, letting the guitars, bass and drums power the music under the vocals. A song like "Arabian Nights" sounds similar to Rainbow's "Gates of Babylon" and has that desert feel to it like that of Iron Maiden's "Powerslave" or Zeppelin's "Kashmir". "Light Of My Love" is a straight out Zeppelin-esque rocker as is "My Life Has Changed". "Why", "A World That Is Learning" and "So I Dance" are rich in acoustics, clean, upbeat and refreshing with some keys thrown in. Even a saxophone is used on the track "Waiting To Die". "Zebra IV" continues to sink in with me listen after listen. This is a much welcomed release for me from a band who I have followed since their debut and have had the opportunity to see live. I thought Boston was notorious for releasing albums every 6 or 7 years. Zebra definitely takes the cake on that! I hope they don't wait another 17 years to make a new album. This one was well worth the wait and at least they retained the style that made them what they sounded like back in 83'.