Swimming Against The Tide Great White Continues To Please Dedicated Fans With Hard Rock Despite National Trends Toward Alternative Sound
Whether you’re a fan of their music, you have to admire Great White.
In a span of three years, the hard rock quintet went from a top-selling arena act to a band headlining clubs and small theaters. (Great White plays The Met Friday at 9 p.m.)
Great White has been swimming the ever-shifting currents of the music business since 1981. The collapse of pop-metal, glam-rock and heavy metal and the rise of alternative rock thrust many of their contemporaries into extinction.
But Great White hasn’t hung up their guitars, even if it may take years, if ever, for the band to regain the prominence they once commanded.
To the five members of the band, platinum records and major arena tours aren’t what make a group successful. Rather, it’s longevity and the ability to play night after night as well as a dedication to releasing new albums.
All of which they’ve accomplished.
“Over the last four years, we’ve been told by members of the music industry that rock is dead and that any hard rock band of the last decade that hasn’t achieved the mass success on the level of Def Leppard and Metallica might as well pack it in,” singer Jack Russell and guitarist Michael Lardie wrote in a recent issue of Billboard.
“We don’t believe any artist of any genre need pack it in, no matter what the current tide of musical tastes.”
Great White has encountered career setbacks before. They were dropped by a major label in 1984. Five years later, the band hatched a multiplatinum album called “Twice Shy.”
Three years following the release of “Twice Shy,” Capitol Records, the band’s label, went through some internal quakes. After the dust settled, the new leadership invested little interest in Great White. Not surprising, the band’s 1993 album “Psycho City” wasn’t a strong seller.
Today, the band is signed to Imago Records, a high-profile independent label known mostly for its Rollins Band releases. For the label, Great White just released their 10th album, “Let It Rock.”
Is it possible Great White will one day make an impact on rock as they did in the late 1980s?
Aerosmith, Cheap Trick and, most recently, KISS have all endured several years of unpopularity before enjoying a revival. So anything is possible.
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MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: ROCK ‘N’ ROLL Great White will perform at 9 p.m. Friday at The Met. Tickets are $15 for reserved seating, available at all G&B Select-a-Seat outlets or call 325-SEAT.