Punky Meadows - Fallen Angel

Thought this might be of interest to some folks here...

Seminal guitarist Punky Meadows (ex-ANGEL) is set to release his first-ever solo album, "Fallen Angel", on May 20 via Main Man Records.

"Fallen Angel" will be available in two formats. The standard CD will include a 16-page booklet which features previously unreleased images of Punky Meadows throughout the years. A very special limited edition will also be available which is autographed by Punky and includes two bonus tracks, one with ANGEL lead singer Frank Dimino, as well as an exclusive Meadows guitar pick. Both formats are available for sale at MainManRecords.com.

Punky Meadows is best known as lead guitarist of the '70s band ANGEL (Casablanca Records). ANGEL, like labelmates KISS, were a highly successful theatrical band that headlined throughout the world, but was particularly successful in Japan. Punky was a huge influence to many musicians for not only his great feel, tone and unique style of guitar playing, but also his image that many have tried to emulate over the years. ANGEL released six albums on Casablanca before disbanding in 1981 due to the demise of the label. During his career, Punky had been sought after and asked to join such bands as KISS, AEROSMITH, NEW YORK DOLLS and Michael Bolton. Upon the disbanding of ANGEL, he occupied himself with successful business ventures while continuing to play guitar and write songs.

The band includes Felix Robinson (bass), Chandler Mogel (lead vocals), Bob Pantella (drums) and Charlie Cav (keyboards). Felix and Punky last worked together in ANGEL.

"Fallen Angel" track listing:

01. Descent
02. The Price You Pay
03. Straight Shooter
04. Breathless And Jaded
05. Loaded Gun
06. Lost And Lonely
07. Home Wrecker
08. I Wanna Be Your Drug
09. Leavin' Tonight
10. Searchin'
11. Something Strange
12. Shadow Man
13. Shake Shake
14. Summertime Love
15. Fallen Angel

can't even think of Punky Meadows without thinking of this song, lmao.

"Terry recently fell in love
With a publicity-photo of a boy named punky meadows...
(oh punky!)...
Lead guitar player from a group called angel.

In the photograph,
Punky was seen with a beautiful shiny hairdo
In a semi-profile which emphasized the pootched out succulence
Of his insolent pouting rictus,
The sight of which drove the helpless young drummer mad with desire!

I can't stand the way he pouts
'cause he might not be pouting for me!

Punky meadows, pouting for you?"

freakin' comedy gold. here's the picture in question:

More on topic; who is in the target demographic for a Punky Meadows solo album? Do most classic rock fans even know who Angel is?

I reckon there are a few Angel fans out there that might be interested. Maybe I guess. Can't say that I am necessarily, but if it makes him happy to put out an album, who are we to question it?

Didn't the lead singer of Angel (Frank something?) recently put out an album too? Maybe Punky got jealous?

EDIT: He did...

oh yeah, more power to him and whatnot. he should have an outlet of expression if he wants to express himself, for sure.

maybe my apathy towards solo albums like this skewed my tone a little bit in the negative. I have a tendency, even with artists I do care about, to have trouble finding interest in solo projects like this. Like I've never gotten around to listening to any Tony Iommi solo albums (unless you include Seventh Star), even though I'm a huge Sabbath fan.

I will always have a soft spot for Angel for two reasons.

Reason 1:



Reason 2:

My freshman year in college my first serious girlfriend loved this album:



So yeah, I'll check out a Punky Meadows album.

No need to defend yourself, toho. I wasn't saying it's lame to listen to them or anything. I was just wondering how much name recognition was there, to be frank.

and that track is really cool, sounds like a better Styx to me. I'd never heard them aside from a few songs back when I first stumbled upon nolifetilmetal.net and read Scott's reviews.

I'd still like them whether it was lame or not.  I like lots of bands people consider lame.  I also don't like a lot of bands people think are the best thing since sliced bread.  I was just trying to point out that there might be more name recognition with Angel than you'd think.  I know Ultmetal is a big fan of "The Tower".  Glad you liked that track BTW; it's probably their signature song. And you're right, it DOES sound like a better Styx (a band I also like )

But I'm a lot like you in that I generally don't expect much from "solo albums".  There are occasional exceptions like Ian Anderson but I usually don't buy solo projects either.   And the fact that this band's heyday was decades ago doesn't fill me with optimism for this project.

But I'll still at least give it a listen.

tohostudios wrote:

I'd still like them whether it was lame or not. I like lots of bands people consider lame.  I also don't like a lot of bands people think are the best thing since sliced bread. I was just trying to point out that there might be more name recognition with Angel than you'd think. And you're right, it DOES sound like a better Styx (a band I also like )

But I'm a lot like you in that I generally don't expect much from "solo albums".  There are occasional exceptions like Ian Anderson but I usually don't buy solo projects either. And the fact that this band's heyday was decades ago doesn't fill me with optimism for this project.

But I'll still at least give it a listen.

I'd especially agree with the sentiment of what I bolded from your quote. Giving too much credence to other people's opinions over your own is something that can be a problem with people who love music.

I had the notion that most people who knew Angel very well weren't your typical Kiss, Aerosmith, and AC/DC fans (though I'm very potentially wrong there). if that makes any sense.
Or at least that for some reason Angel didn't have the same kind of longevity in popular culture that those (and similar bands) had. Most casual hard rock fans wouldn't care if Joe Perry was releasing a new solo album, let alone Punky Meadows. That was more what I was trying to get at. There's bound to be die-hard fans who love Punky (like Terry Bozzio, lol), but I was wondering more about the average CD-purchasing 70s hard rock fan. And I admit, there's tons of distance between me and the people who lived during that time, and there's a lot of speculation I'm making based off of my viewpoint.

I had similar thoughts about the Punky Meadows album; what are the odds that he's gonna release a stellar album that rivals the best stuff Angel put out in their prime? Probably slim. But you're right, you never know until you listen to it.

Quote :

I had the notion that most people who knew Angel very well weren't your typical Kiss, Aerosmith, and AC/DC fans (though I'm very potentially wrong there). if that makes any sense.

Actually I think those are PRECISELY the people who know Angel very well.  Though I'll grant you Angel didn't have anywhere near the impact or legacy those bands did. 

I guess maybe it's more of an age-related thing.  Hard rock/metal fans who are 40 years old or more are probably familiar with Angel. 

But that said I agree with you that I doubt even many of that demographic really have much interest in a Punky Meadows solo project except as a passing curiosity.  I know I, for one, never even considered the idea.  But now that it's out there I'll definitely give it a listen. 

But I'm going in with extremely low expectations.  That way I might be pleasantly surprised.

tohostudios wrote:

Quote :

I had the notion that most people who knew Angel very well weren't your typical Kiss, Aerosmith, and AC/DC fans (though I'm very potentially wrong there). if that makes any sense.

But I'm going in with extremely low expectations.  That way I might be pleasantly surprised.

That's a clever way to approach not just a new album, but living as well, lol.

Believe me, I do. 

I'm such an old cynic and pessimist.  

I try not to be pessimistic all the time, but I think it's my natural state of perceiving most situations, lol.

I'll check it out based on the cover alone.

I like Angel well enough though when I first picked up an album from them I assumed it was going to be the same glam band that did "Good Time Fanny" and was bummed that it did not sound like that. In later year, via the internet and discogs, I would learn that the glam Angel only put out 2 singles in 1974 and that was it.

I have only the faintest idea who Angel is/was. I know the name and that's about it. I always did like that cool logo design tho. (if you turn it upside down it still sez "Angel!" Wooo, mind blown!)

Were they from the New York area? Cuz I used to go to the New York/New Jersey KISS Expo every year in the early '90s and there was usually at least one Angel member there signing stuff each year.

I'm familiar with Main Man Records tho, cuz they're New Jersey based. They reissued a bunch of stuff by my boys Bad Biscut.

I like Angel, but I only own the anthology from the early Nineties. Not a bad track on there. The whole discog has been on my want list for years, but the albums aren't that easy to find or necessarily that cheap. I have no problem with either of the two main men from the band doing solo stuff (not saying others here do either) but I won't be a buyer unless I finish the main bands catalog first.

I guess we all have our saturation points (as fans and collectors) for our fave bands and artists. Besides Priest, Maiden, and Dokken - (Halford, Dickinson, Lynch) I can't afford to track down every thing anyone ever associated with Purple or Sabbath committed to tape. I think it was either manny or mikeinfla that wrote in the Hendrix thread about people collecting "every fart, burp, and hiccup" Jimi ever recorded. It's funny, but it's true. I know in that case, it's to gouge the fans, but I think I am on the right street.

I have always found it kind of insulting when a hype sticker has "For fans of..." and it's a loose association of a guy who was in Rainbow or toured with Motorhead for 12 minutes. Or worse yet, when it's a producer's name. I didn't buy the new Maiden cuz of their producer, I bought it cuz it's Iron F#cking Maiden! Ok, rant over.

First single released...



Not bad I guess. I would've gone with something more up-beat and rocking for a lead-off track, but whatever. Anyone else think Punky's face looks like it's made of wax?