676 Hello The Almighty - Wild and Wonderful

Chart  entered :  30  June  1990

Chart  peak : 50

Number  of hits : 11

 I  only  know  one  of  these  guys'  hits  because  it  was  subsequently  on  a  free  CD  from  Q  when  such  things  had  a  value. 

The  Almighty  hail  from  Strathaven  in  Scotland. In  1981  Stump  Munroe  and  Floyd  London  were  joined  at  school  by  a  newcomer  from  Northern  Ireland  called  Ricky  Warwick. They  formed  a  punk  band  called  Rough  Charm  with  Ricky  on  guitar  and  vocals, Floyd  on  bass  and  Stump  on  drums  and  gigged  locally.

In  1987  Ricky  was  invited  to  go  on  tour  with  New  Model  Army  as  a  second  guitarist. He  came  off  that  fired  up  to  start  his  own  band and  called  up  his  old  pals  with  the  addition  of  guitarist  Andy  "Tantrum"  McCafferty . The  Almighty  were  born  in  January  1988  and decided  that  hard  rock  rather  than  punk  offered  more  prospect  of  success.

Hard  gigging  for  a  year  eventually  attracted  the  interest  of  Polydor  who  signed  them  up  in  March  1989.  They  released  their  first  single  "Destroyed "  later  that  year. It's  a  standard  hard  rock single  about  sexual  obsession  barked  out  by  Ricky in  no-nonsense  style. The  sound  is  somewhere  between  Def  Leppard  and  Guns 'n' Roses  ( there's  a  tell-tale  reference  to  a  "sweet  child " in  the  lyrics. Their  first  album  "Blood, Fire  and  Love"  was  released  in  October  to  generally  good  reviews  in  the  metal  magazines.  It  didn't  make  the  charts.

The  second  single  from  it, "Power " , was  released  in  February 1990. It  sounds  very  much  like  Alice  Cooper  with  a  modern  rock  production; both  the  lyrics  of  teenage  frustration  and  Ricky's  snarled  vocal  betray  a  heavy  Cooper  influence  and  the  band  would  soon  end  up  supporting  him. The  single  has  a  decent  riff  but  nothing  in  the  way of  a  tune.

"Wild  and  Wonderful  was  their  third  single. I  presume  there  was  a  radio  edit  as  the  version  I've  heard  is  studded  with  profanities.  Ricky  plays  a  few  acoustic  chords  on  the  intro  before  the  drums  kick  in  and  the  poppy  chorus and  James  Taylor  organ  interlude  indicate  a  desire   to  broaden  their  appeal. The  lyrics  again  betray  a  debt  to  Guns 'n' Roses.  It's  OK  for its  genre.