Flynn, and now Lucas
Here's the scoop on Terry Ilous' latest project, a band called Lucasmusic. Don't expect it to sound anything like XYZ, except for that distinctive voice that we all know and love -- and the fact that he's now singing in Spanish.
His web page is lucasmusic.net It's still under construction, but there are some song clips that you can listen to. Those of us with the Flynn CD will recognize a couple of them, whether or not you speak Spanish! This project is apparently doing well for him; he said that he's been on a few TV shows recently. I assume those are local LA shows. More on this as news comes in.
See his Lucasmusic mp3 site here: www.mp3.com/lucasmusic. Also see http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/376/terry_ilous.html.
Flynn: The Day I Spoke to Dog, put out by VIP artists, includes the following songs: Well, Living A Lie, My World Is Gone, Tell Me, Gray People, The Day I Spoke To Dog, 1960's Girl, You've Got To Believe, I Can't Fly, All Right Now, Unconditional.
He's still writing with Jeff Northrup (King Kobra, Cage) and Patt Fontaine! (Hooray!) The stuff is melodic, rockin, and just downright lovely. (Give me chills, Terry. Chills. MMM!) His enunciation is crisp, too. I know on some past music there's been the ocassional "What was that word, Terry?" This CD is just gorgeous. Check it out, especially if you like the Cage CD. I've got it on repeat. Try it. You'll like it.
My CD came with the above autographed photo! What a bonus.
"After finding your web page, checking out the Flynn CD, and shooting a quick email to his website, Terry & I emailed back & forth a few times, and somehow he talked me into going to the convention in Vegas! My friend & I went and combined it w/ a weekend in L.A. (where we saw some of her faves from way back when!) I helped him w/ flyers, tapes, etc. while he went to
the panels, and I took some pix of his set.
"You've met Terry, right? What a character! Not at all what I had expected (or remembered, from the 2 minutes I spent w/ him 8 years ago, that is). Very sunny, energetic, and outgoing, completely the opposite of the dreary, negative people I've been surrounded by in Boston! His positive outlook and quick wit (not to mention his beautiful songs!) made 3 days in the epicenter of bogusness enjoyable! I hope something comes of all the schmoozing (management, promotions, some sort of business help) because he definitely has the rest of what it takes, and the songs are too good to go unheard, ya know?"
--Nancy
Terry's Cage (©1996): The present band CAGE, which has a new CD, "Unveiled," available through Perris Records mail order, does not have Terry up front.
Terry's Cage project includes one of the guitarists from King Kobra (Jeff Northrup) and several well-known guest musicians, including: Carmine Appice, Vinny Appice, Jeff Pilson (Dokken), Tony Franklin, and Randy Castillo.
Cage is out of print, but not too hard to find. As always, check dealers in Goldmine magazine — that's where I found mine.
From my friend David Pierce: "The French import of Cage... has a bonus track called "L'Amour A Son Revers". Ten tracks total instead of nine. It's on the Axe Killer label just like the Live import." I'll let you know where to find one as soon as I know!
Here are the lineup and guest appearances as they appear on the CD jacket:
1 Walk On Water, Matt Luneau, drums, Sean McNabb, bass
2 My Shell, Carmine Appice, drums, Tony Franklin, bass
3 Minds Eye, James Kottak, drums, Sean McNabb, bass
4 Train Song
5 Here and Gone, Vinnie Appice, drums, Tony Franklin, bass
6 Soul to Soul, James Kottak, drums, Phil Sousan, bass
7 Save Me, Randy Castillo drums, Jeff Pilson, bass
8 Lie, Terry Ilous, drums, thanks to Al Esis Dick Cox piano and Bob Johnson, bass
9 Ticket
Produced by Jeff Northrup and Terry Ilous
Terry Ilous, lead and backing vocals, harmonica on Train Song
Jeff Northrup, all electric and acoustic guitars, sitar, and backing vocals
(Terry sure has a lot of bass players as friends, doesn't he?)
All songs are written by Jeff Northrup and Terry Ilous except for:
My Shell, written by Northrup;
Train Song, Save Me, and Lie, written by Terry and Patt;
and Ticket, written by Terry, Patt and Tony Marcus.
On the inside is a photo of Jeff and Terry, who cut his hair... He either let it go back to its normal color or dyed it black. It's a b/w photo. He looks like a real punk w/o his long, blondish hair!
I've got to tell you, the CD is wonderful. I didn't know that I could enjoy a new tape this much, but it's just like hearing from an old friend after not seeing him or knowing how he was for 10 years. It makes you feel so good inside, as you reminisce. It doesn't feel like any time has passed, even though you know it has. How could I have waited so long to get this?
Oh, yeah, and the songs rock, too. That was expected. Look who wrote and plays them!
I don't know exactly why, but there's passages in here that remind me of The Beatles. Good stuff.
I found it at: www.rockdreams.com, though wildsideimports has it available as well. I found both places through Goldmine magazine, which can be found at your local Tower Records, Barnes and Noble and Borders Bookstores. If they don't have it in stock, they can get it for you. Many independently owned record stores have the magazine as well. It comes out every two weeks.
Here's a review that I found on the web last spring, 1999:
CAGE/CAGE
NEXUS INTERNATIONAL KICP-542
1. Walk On Water 2. My Shell 3. Minds Eye 4. Train Song 5. Here and Gone 6. Soul To Soul 7. Save Me 8. Lie 9. Ticket
Discography
XYZ - XYZ
XYZ - Hungry
Cage - Cage
Total Score 75%
Production 80%
Songs 65%
Vibe 75%
Attitude 80%
Cage is the brain child of ex-XYZ vocalist Terry Ilous and gutarist Jeff Northrup. So with such a dominant vocalist involved you could only expect that this is a 90's extension on XYZ. However ther are also a few differences. This is definately an album for fans of 90's style hard rock. It is a very contemporary sounding record, yet retains enough melody, both in the music and the voice, to hold fans of XYZ.
Guests on the record to compliment Terry and Jeff include Sean McNabb, James Kottack, Tony Franklin, Vinnie Appice, Carmine Appice, Phil Sousan and Jeff Pilson of Dokken. It's not a bad album at all overall, and one could not do much better if they wanted a 90's sounding heavy rock album, almost free of ballads (except for "Lie"), and featuring a great melodic singer.
Standout tracks are the ballad "Lie," "Walk On Water," "My Shell" and the closing track "Ticket" (a more 80's-style hard rocker).
Recommended.
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Page last updated March 24, 2002. [Terry news]