Zebra - Zebra (1983) {Atlantic US LP} 24/192

Zebra is the debut album by American hard rock band Zebra, released in 1983, eight years after they were founded. The album features all original material, with the exception of "Slow Down," a Larry Williams tune best remembered in a 1964 cover version by the Beatles. It is generally considered the band's strongest work, featuring minor hits "Who's Behind The Door?" and "Tell Me What You Want."



Zebra started their career by playing covers of Led Zeppelin, Moody Blues and Rush songs: it was their early fans' reaction to their Led Zeppelin renditions that helped convince the band to bring their act to New York. They had introduced their original material into their cover sets years before they were signed to Atlantic Records, including "The La La Song", "Free" and "Bears" (originally entitled "The Bears are Hibernating").


On July 10, 2010, during their 35th Anniversary performance at New Orleans' Mahalia Jackson Theater, Zebra was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.

Dream Theater covered "Take Your Fingers From My Hair" for the special edition of their 10th studio album, Black Clouds & Silver Linings.



Track listing

No.
1. "Tell Me What You Want" 3:51
2. "One More Chance" 3:16
3. "Slow Down" 3:25
4. "As I Said Before" 2:56
5. "Who's Behind the Door?" 5:09
6. "When You Get There" 2:56
7. "Take Your Fingers from My Hair" 7:20
8. "Don't Walk Away" 3:35
9. "The La La Song" 6:12






Personnel

Band members

Randy Jackson – guitar and lead vocals
Felix Hanemann – bass guitar, keyboards, and vocals
Guy Gelso – drums and vocals

Session musicians

Jack Douglas – keyboards, percussion
Mike Grossman – piano
Eric Troyer – synthesizer




Review

by Tom Demalon

The Long Island via New Orleans, trio Zebra broke from the gate with their eponymous first release, a record that was, at the time, one of Atlantic Records' fastest-selling debuts ever. Tapping into the vacuum left by Led Zeppelin's breakup, lead singer Randy Jackson and company gave the masses a good, healthy dose of Zeppelin-like hard rock. True, they are a pale imitation of their icons, but they pack enough requisite crunch into the album's nine tracks to make Zebra an enjoyable listen. The use of synthesizer dates the album, but they did manage to score a pair of radio hits with the driving "Tell Me What You Want" and "Who's Behind the Door?" which builds to a respectably thunderous climax. Jackson manages to do a decent approximation of Robert Plant's primal howl, although some of the lyrics ("The la la Song," "Take Your Fingers From My Hair") are embarrassingly self-conscious in their attempt to strive for the proper mix of mysticism and depth.



4/5 stars