Blue Murder

Bryan Martin


     Thin Lizzy….Whitesnake……These bands help us welcome another three-piece hard rock/metal act, Blue Murder. Formed By John Sykes, Blue Murder was a powerhouse band whose musicianship was stellar. From the opening chords of the debut album, songs like “Riot”, “Sex Child”, and “Billy” just lay a framework of a power chord masterpiece. “Valley of the kings” stands out as a master class in control and release of guitar power.

        Sykes has a killer voice that melted easily between the high end screams of his peers and the slowly rising hard rock grunge of the future. His guitar prowess is unmatched. The man can rip when he needs to. Carmine Appice on drums and Tony Franklin on bass completed this trio of metal.

   Blue murder released one other album, “Nothin’ but Trouble”. I had the honor of seeing Blue murder in Boston sometime around 1993. They were amazing. To this day I can’t really decipher how Sykes could sing and play they way he did at the same time. It was like two different people were in that body. Rumors circulated last year of a revival or a new project similiar but nothing has come to light yet. Too bad because this could have been a major player in the growing 80’s rock revival field. Run, don’t walk and buy a copy of their first cd.