To The Badlands Fan On ‘Eddie Trunk’ Tonight

Eddie Trunk has a show every Monday night on SiriusXM Hair Nation. Honestly, I don’t listen to it often because I am not usually in the car/able to listen when it airs. Tonight was an exception.

Imagine my shock when the first caller wanted to talk about Badlands! He asked Eddie if the band had any input into choosing their first single and argued that “Dreams in the Dark” was not a good choice. He thought a better choice would be something like “Rumblin’ Train” to show off Jake E. Lee’s guitar skills.

Eddie very quickly explained that record labels typically choose the lead single, and the whole point is to try and get a radio hit. He said the point of a lead single - especially for a debut album - isn’t to show off any one member but to showcase the entire concept of the band. He further went on to say that he thought “Dreams in the Dark” was the perfect first single. I agree with that, even if it isn’t the best song on the self-titled debut. Personally, I think “Winter’s Call” and “Streets Cry Freedom” are some of the strongest tracks.

Eddie also mused a little about why Badlands didn’t “take off as much” as the caller said. For Eddie’s part, he thought the band was out of step with the vibe of the moment. Badlands came out in 1989 and is very bluesy. That moment in time called for the “Glammy look” (Eddie’s words) and over-the-top, huge album production, like Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet.

Honestly, I don’t think I ever really considered Badlands to be a Glam band. Instead, they were always just hard rock to me. I’d still put Badlands in the top 10 best albums of the 1980s, Glam, rock, pop, metal, or otherwise.