V

Lyricists: John Wetton; Neil Murray .
Personnel: Genki Hitomi (vocals); Kyoji Yamamoto (guitar); Rei Atsumi (keyboards); Neil Murray (bass guitar); Toshihiro Niimi (drums).
Recording information: Gallery Studio, England (06/1987-07/1987); Ibiza Studios, Ibiza, Spain (06/1987-07/1987); Music Works Studios, London, England (06/1987-07/1987).
Arrangers: Vow Wow; John Wetton.
After jamming U.K. import racks with an onslaught of fine albums and EPs for years on end, Japanese hard rock phenoms Vow Wow finally quit their homeland for London in 1987, leaving behind long-serving bassist and unwilling ex-patriot Kenji Sano, but welcoming well-traveled Brit player Neil Murray (ex-Whitesnake, future Black Sabbath, etc.) as his replacement. Unfortunately for the group, that same year's sparingly named V did little to increase their commercial profile in the highly competitive hard rock market of the late '80s, not through lack of competency, mind you, but because its songs sounded like pretty much everyone else's. So just when Vow Wow should have been milking their exotic origins in a bid to stand out from the pack, they resorted to copying the most prevalent pop metal clichés around with typically exacting precision, as illustrated by synthesizer-drenched, soul-deadening fare like "Don't Tell Me Lies," "Break Out," "Waited for a Lifetime," and more. Having said all that, any listener who can actually stomach those infamous `80s recording hallmarks will get their absolute fill of the stuff, and may even pick a few stand-out moments, like the energetic "Somewhere in the Night," the über-weepy ballad "Cry No More," and the jaw-dropping synthesizer overkill of "Same Town." Just don't expect originality, because by this point in their long career, Vow Wow were clearly simply trying to fit in with the pack. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia