FIFTH ANGEL

Any fans?
Listening to both their albums today, both awesome imo.
Wonder why this band never made it big? They seemed to have it all, good songwriting, the right image, talent, and a major label to back them!?
Anyway, their albums gets a lot of spins in my player, they dont sound as dated as many bands from those days.
And since I`m useless with genres, in what genre would you put them today?
Heavy Metal, Melodic Metal, Power Metal??

I love these guys, even James Byrd's solo project is great, imo. From what I remember, they had a 5 or 6 album deal with CBS records but just couldn't keep their act together. Too bad, they were awesome. Peace.

I have not heard Byrd`s solo project, but that sounds interresting!!
Will look for it, is it rare/oop?

I have both albums and love them both. Maybe the reason they didn't get bigger was because their label didn't push them enough.

Time Will Tell is a good album, but not a great one IMO because they
squeezed out James Byrd after the debut. I have quite a few of Byrd's
albums afterwards and they are all good, but none quite as good as that
first Fifth Angel.

Anyone who likes instrumental albums should track down James Byrd's Son of Man. The best instrumental album I have ever heard. Octoglomerate and Atlantis Rising are also stellar.

I was listening to their self titled album a couple weeks ago, it had been ages since I last heard them and I was thinking to myself why did this one ever get put on the shelf. Dang good band!!

Great band, I haven't heard solo stuff though-TJ

Tall Tyrion wrote:

Time Will Tell is a good album, but not a great one IMO because they
squeezed out James Byrd after the debut. I have quite a few of Byrd's
albums afterwards and they are all good, but none quite as good as that
first Fifth Angel.

Anyone who likes instrumental albums should track down James Byrd's Son of Man. The best instrumental album I have ever heard. Octoglomerate and Atlantis Rising are also stellar.

Yeah, the debut is definitely the strongest one, close to a classic IMO..
Are his albums all instrumental?

The Fifth Angel story in short:

Fifth Angel was formed in the suburbs of Seattle in late 1983 by James Byrd (lead guitar), Ted Pilot (vocals) and Ken Mary (drums). The group was finalized with the additions of Ed Archer (rhythm guitar) and Kenny Kay (bass). Archer, Mary, and Pilot were in a band called Ridge in high school, which had disbanded after winning a number of "battle of the bands" competitions, but not getting signed by a record label. Hearing about both Pilot and Mary, James Byrd (originally from Seattle, but then down in Los Angeles) wanted to work with the two and moved back to Seattle to start Fifth Angel. Following the model utilized by Queensrÿche, another Seattle-area metal band that had recently been signed to a major label, Fifth Angel concentrated on songwriting and perfected their original songs, instead of extensively playing the club circuit looking for a record deal. The band's work resulted in a four-track demo at Steve Lawson Productions with engineer/producer Terry Date in late 1983/early 1984, consisting of the songs "Fifth Angel", "Wings Of Destiny", "In The Fallout" and "Fade To Flames". The plan proved fruitful, as Mike Varney of Shrapnel Records, an independent label, signed Fifth Angel for the release of its first record. The original 1984 demo tracks were included on the album, along with five cuts recorded in 1985: "Shout It Out", "Call Out the Warning", "The Night", "Only the Strong Survive" and "Cry Out the Fools". Mixed and delivered to the label in 1985, Fifth Angel's self-titled first album was officially released in 1986. Despite the positive reviews, a line-up change occurred. Bassist Kenny Kay departed the band and was replaced by John Macko. Although information on the departure is scarce, Pilot mentioned in an interview that Kay simply "lost interest" in playing music. After Fifth Angel's initial album received such critical acclaim, CBS/Epic Records took notice and negotiated a seven-album deal with Fifth Angel and its new management team, Derek Simon and Concrete Marketing and Management. Epic re-released the band's debut album in 1988, to set the stage for a follow-up recording. But as the money and publicity arrived, the band lost another original member - founding guitarist James Byrd. Seattle guitarist Kendall Bechtel replaced Byrd in the band, as writing and recording began for the group's follow-up album, 'Time Will Tell', which was released in late 1989. Although Terry Date was originally slated to do the engineering and production on the record, he was bypassed in favor of Terry Brown. With fan and media support behind them, Fifth Angel seemed primed for a successful tour, but the band fractured and dissolved before they could get on the road, right after 'Time Will Tell' hit the shelves.

The answer to all my questions ..
Guess i better start reading your website

I foolishly traded Time Will Tell away in the mid-nineties. Don't know what I was thinking doing that.

Olafsto wrote:

Are his albums all instrumental?

Oops, didn't mean to give that impression. No, only Son of Man is instrumental, he's had various lead singers over the years. I also can't believe I forgot to mention The Apocalypse Chime, which features Robert Mason. That is a killer album!

Olafsto wrote:

Tall Tyrion wrote:

Time Will Tell is a good album, but not a great one IMO because they
squeezed out James Byrd after the debut. I have quite a few of Byrd's
albums afterwards and they are all good, but none quite as good as that
first Fifth Angel.

Anyone who likes instrumental albums should track down James Byrd's Son of Man. The best instrumental album I have ever heard. Octoglomerate and Atlantis Rising are also stellar.

Yeah, the debut is definitely the strongest one, close to a classic IMO..
Are his albums all instrumental?

ATLANTIS RISING by JAMES BYRD is not all instrumental and i agree, its a classic, like the two FIFTH ANGEL albums.