Blue Murder: История английской рок-группы.

English rock band
the folk group

Blue Murder were an English rock band led by guitarist vocalist John Sykes. The group was formed in 1987 following Sykes's dismissal from Whitesnake. The initial line up was rounded out by bassist Tony Franklin and drummer Carmine Appice. In its nascent stage, vocalist Ray Gillen and drummer Cozy Powell were attached to the project. In 1989, Blue Murder released their self titled debut album, which cracked the Billboard 200 chart and spawned a minor hit with "Jelly Roll". By the early 1990s, however, Blue Murder's music had fallen out of fashion with the popularity of grunge. Franklin and Appice left the band, while Sykes put together a new line up and released Nothin' But Trouble in 1993. After a live album the following year, Blue Murder were dropped by their record label and broke up. Since then there have been numerous attempts to reunite the band to no avail.

In 1986, guitarist John Sykes was fired from the English hard rock group Whitesnake by vocalist David Coverdale. Sykes had just finished recording the band's eponymous album, which would go on to achieve multi platinum status. He returned to his home in Blackpool, England, where he began writing songs again. In February 1987, he started putting together a new group. Drummer Cozy Powell was the first to join, having played with Sykes in Whitesnake from 1984 to 1985. After solidifying their initial line up, the band recorded some demos and sent them to Geffen Records with whom Sykes had previously worked with as a member of Whitesnake. Prior to this, Sykes had sent Geffen his first demo recordings, which featured him on lead vocals. Their debut album, eponymously titled Blue Murder, was released on 24 April 1989. It debuted at number 172 on the Billboard 200 chart, eventually peaking at number 69 in June 1989. On the UK Albums Chart, it reached number 45. The record received positive reviews, with Raws Paul Suter giving it a ten out of ten rating and calling it one of "the finest records in an age". The single "Jelly Roll" also proved to be a minor hit, reaching number fifteen on the Album Rock Tracks chart. In support of their debut album, Blue Murder toured America supporting Bon Jovi and Billy Squier, with additional headline dates in America and Japan. While their debut album would go on to sell an estimated 500,000 copies by Sykes's account, Blue Murder's success fell short of expectations. Carmine Appice stated that the decision to release "Valley of the Kings" as the band's first music video was a mistake, as it was deemed too long and not "commercial enough" for MTV. The song was also not available for purchase as a single, something Franklin felt hurt its success on MTV.

According to Appice and Franklin, Sykes was deeply affected by the failure of Blue Murder's debut album, which led to a long period of inactivity. This was partly due to Sykes producing the record himself for which he built an entirely new home studio. In August 1991, Franklin announced his departure from Blue Murder. Sykes then recruited bassist Marco Mendoza and drummer Tommy O'Steen to the group, However, Franklin had already laid down tracks for Blue Murder's second album, while Carmine Appice was brought back briefly as a session drummer. Blue Murder released Nothin' But Trouble on 31 August 1993. The record received positive reviews, though it was perceived by critics as a step down from the band's debut. The single "We All Fall Down" reached number 35 on the Album Rock Tracks chart, but the record itself failed to chart. Sykes once again attributed this to Geffen, whom he felt "didn't do anything" to promote the record. When asked in a 2001 interview if there will be another Blue Murder album, Sykes responded: "Maybe at some point there will be. I don't know." In 2020, Appice stated that he and Sykes had once again talked about the possibility of a Blue Murder reunion, but nothing came of the conversation.

Blue Murder have been described by music critics as hard rock, heavy metal, and glam metal. Sykes described the band's sound in a 1989 interview with Raw as a combination of Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy and the blues. With Blue Murder, Sykes sought to create a heavier record than Whitesnake's eponymous album, while still retaining much of the same groove and vibe. He would later speculate that this heaviness might have contributed to the album's low sales. Despite Blue Murder's short lifespan, the band and their first album in particular have gained a small cult following. Radio and television personality Eddie Trunk highlighted the group in his 2011 book Eddie Trunk's Essential Hard Rock and Heavy Metal, while White Wizzard's Jon Leon named Blue Murder one of his favourite obscure heavy metal records of the 1980s. Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic remarked in his retrospective review of the band's first album how it has "endured far better than most similarly styled heavy metal albums of the era". He also touted the production as one of Bob Rock's best alongside his work with Metallica. while MetalSucks included it on a list of essential hair metal albums not included on a similar list by Rolling Stone.