(GetAnimal Records)

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There’s an interesting story behind this long awaited lost album by New York rock vet Adam Bomb. Adam was recording this effort in 1990 with legendary Aerosmith/Cheap Trick/John Lennon producer Jack Douglas at the historic Record Plant studio in the Big Apple when it was briefly taken over by drug smuggling felons who ran up $800,000 in bills in four months before leaving the country. Creditors took the equipment in exchange for the unpaid bills, but not before Douglas and Bomb tracked a bunch of tunes amidst the partying, drunken rock stars coming in and out, and all night coke binges. One day, Bomb saunters into the studio only to discover that all the master tapes have mysteriously disappeared, apparently stolen by one of the many party-people that were floating around at the time. The theft was made all the more tragic when two of the contributors, Rolling Stones piano man Nicky Hopkins and Billy Squire drummer Bobby Chouinard, died years later, making this their final performances on an album.

Seven years later a mean ol’ lady with a thick Brooklyn accent calls up Adam and says she has the tapes, threatening to sell them for stock tape unless he paid her $5,000 within a week. Adam raised the dough, got the tapes back, and teamed up with Chouinard and Squire alumni bassist Kenny Aaronson and keyboardist Alan St. John in 1997 to track six more tunes and release the long awaited New York Times project. They tracked the new tunes, mastered ‘em and then Chouinard died, crushing all plans for a tour and the release of the album… until now.

Finally, five years later, New York Times has been released and features extensive liner notes detailing the history of the album and the players that cruised in and out of the sessions. Among the cats who appear on this platter are former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor, Billy Idol axe wizard Steve Stevens, Turtles/Zappa vocalists Flo & Eddie, Starz frontman Michael Lee Smith, bass maestro T.M. Stevens, and The Uptown Horns. The result is a strong, personal album from Mr. Bomb that sounds like the all night party it reportedly was. All the special guests fit right (especially the searing slide work of Taylor) in with the exception of Steve Stevens, whose lead wanking on “New York Child” and “Cheyenne” sounds completely out of place…though his acoustic flamenco work throughout is quite nice.

Yeah, mainly this is Adam’s show and he pulls out all the stops, rockin’, rollin’, struttin’ and strollin’. Though he’s a fiery lead guitarist himself, he shows some restraint here, letting the songs hold their own and the auxiliary players do the showboating. Mainly he sticks to passionately crooning out these Bowie by way of Motely Crue glam rock anthems. The opening track, “Lyin’ With The Dogs,” gets things off to a rockin’ start, with it’s horn driven Stoney stomp and barroom boogie. And while this one and other cuts like “Anxiety” and “Kick It Out” carry on in the tradition of Adam’s hard rock debut Fatal Attraction, most of the rest of the effort is a bit mellower and moodier. “New York Child” is definitely the standout cut, a ‘70s sounding number complete with lush strings and radio-pop hooks right outta the KISS Dynasty songbook. Another standout comes in the form of “Walk The Other Way,” a creepy little number that features some sinister bass and haunting guitar work and lunges from a bluesy vibe to pure hard rock before throwing in a samba beat just to fuck with yer head for fun. “Saluda A Lola” also features some Latin rhythms before settling into a Beatles-esque ballad complete with melotron and beautiful descending chord changes. Meanwhile, “Doom Glorified” starts off where “All The Young Dudes” left off, albeit with some darker, less cynical lyrics. A cover of the Stones’ “Only Rock n’ Roll” brings Mr. Bomb back full circle to the hard rockin’ sounds he’s made a career out of and that influenced him in the first place.

All in all, a solid, dynamic effort from a man who has been kicking around long enough to learn some lessons along the way and pick up a thing or two. Hey, the CD booklet has pictures of him hangin’ with Johnny Thunders (New York Dolls), Stiv Bators (Dead Boys, Steve Clarke (Def Leppard) and Duff McKagen (GN’R), so with those kind of friends, you’d expect nothing less than greatness, right? Right. So there ya go… here it is.

Score this album at adambomb.com ****