Lone Star was an up and coming band in the mid 1970’s who fall into that ‘should have been a star’ category. They came close but, at the end of the day, the lasted only for a couple of albums and never reached into the top of their genre.

It’s a shame, really, as Lone Star really were a very talented band. They mixed early Styx with a lot of Led Zeppelin influence. The debut album featured vocalist Kenny Driscoll, who left before the band’s sophomore effort. Songs like “She Said She Said,” “Spaceships” and “Illusions” all were great rockers. Lone Star featured guitarist Paul Chapman, who would later go on to fame with the band UFO. The debut album rocked hard and it is still a big mystery as to why Lone Star did not sell Gold out of the box. The remastered version also includes five live songs that were unreleased BBC Sessions.

With album sales a disappointment, and Driscoll long gone, the band brought in vocalist John Sloman, who would go on to work with Uriah Heep. His voice was more Zeppelin-esque than Driscoll’s and this album leans heavily in that direction. While there are many nods to Zep, the songwriting, while good, was not at the same level as Led’s. There were many damn good songs on the second effort including the epic “The Bells of Berlin.” “The Ballad of Crafty Jack” has a Spinal Tap title if there ever was one but the song, like Tap’s music, has a charming personality to it. Like the first album, the remastered contains BBC Session tracks never before released.

Both albums were produced by the iconic Roy Thomas Baker, but unlike he did with Queen and The Cars, Baker was unable to get Lone Star on the charts. The band was struck with turmoil and eventually gave up and went their separate ways. There were many moments of brilliance on both albums, surrounded by a lot of mediocrity. Lone Star could have been huge and once only wonders what could have happened if they had been allowed a few more albums and gotten a bit more push from the record company. For those who enjoy being rock n’ roll archeologists, Lone Star’s two albums are for you. Lots of grandiosity, lots of keyboards and lots of guitars…

Try it, you’ll’’ like it!