CoronaVinyl Day 292 (L): Lone Justice by Lone Justice

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

Today's CoronaVinyl category is "L," and I decided to go with Lone Justice's self-titled 1985 debut album.

This is another album that I must have acquired as part of a larger lot of records.  Before today, I don't recall ever hearing a Lone Justice song.  From the research I did on the band today, they formed as a cowpunk band in LA in the '80s, and they were signed by Geffen with some pretty strong fanfare.

They never quite lived up to the hype, and I'd describe their first album as a little schizophrenic.  There are some songs that are definitely more in the cowpunk or rockabilly field, while others are more country rock, and some are just more straight country.  Adding to the confusion is the album cover, which makes the band look more like a New Romantic group from the middle of England than a cowpunk band from LA.  The drab and overcast album cover certainly didn't match the music.

The album isn't bad by any means.  Lead singer Maria McKee has a nice, often twangy voice that is reminiscent of Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, and Bonnie Raitt, depending on the song.  The band had some help from some legends.  Jimmy Iovine produced the album.  Tom Petty and Mike Campbell wrote one of the songs, "Ways To Be Wicked," on which Campbell played guitar.  Fellow Heartbreaker Benmont Tench played piano and organs (and sang backing vocals on a couple songs).  E Street Band guitarist Little Steven Van Zandt also played guitar on one song.

The album didn't do great commercially, only reaching #56 on the Billboard album chart and #62 on the Billboard Country album chart.  The two singles from the album were very minor hits, with "Sweet, Sweet Baby (I'm Falling)" going to #73 on the Billboard Hot 100 and "Ways To Be Wicked" going to #71.

The band's next album, 1986's Shelter, was co-produced by Iovine, Van Zandt, and the band, and it didn't do any better, though it produced the band's highest-charting song on the Billboard Hot 100, the title track, which went to #47.  The band then broke up in 1987 and has been largely forgotten.

Favorite song from Side 1:  "East of Eden"
The album kicks off with a nice rocker with kind of a hand jive shuffle to it.  McKee's vocals are more punky than on most of the rest of the album.

Favorite song from Side 2:  "Wait 'Til We Get Home"
This is a toe-tapper that I'd probably classify as heartland rock, featuring Tench on the organ.