Like an Obscure Skid Row...

Ok, so Skid Row got massively famous. Across the border and to the north was Sven Gali, often compared to Skid Row. The band had some great tunes but often fell into the "ripped-jean-and-flannel-shirt-but Glam-band" conundrum. After all, it was the dawn of the 90s and flannel was hot - you know, literally and figuratively. So, what's a good Glam band to do but keep the locks long and don some red plaid.

Sven Gali originally formed in 1987 but didn't release their debut until five years later. The good thing about Sven Gali is that they definitely have a hard edge - and are great if you're in a bad mood or just want to drive your car really fast. Also, there's a lot of live clips of them on YouTube so you can  really get  a sense of what the band is all about.

Who were Sven Gali? David Wanless sang and Dee Cernile and Andy Frank played guitar. Gregg Gerson (and later Mike Ferguson) played drums and Shawn Mahar played bass. The band's biggest "hit" is "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" but I much prefer the fast songs. Leave the ballads to Sebastian Bach-era Skid Row I say.

Remember those flannel shirts I mentioned? Yeah, Sven Gali tried to go grunge and - shock - it didn't work. Who knew that a Glam band would suck at grunge?

Anyway, here's the tracklisting for that self-titled debut:

01. Under The Influence
02. Tie Dyed Skies
03. Sweet Little Gypsy
04. In My Garden
05. Freakz
06. Love Don't Live Anymore
07. Stiff Competition
08. Real Thing
09. Whisper In The Rain
10. 25 Hours A Day
11. Here Today Gone Tomorrow
12. Disgusteen

And now the obligatory video clips:

"Here Today, Gone Tomorrow (live)"

"Love Don't Live Here Anymore"

"What You Give"

Comments

[Christian]

These guys are basically awesome. I have a lot of obscure glam CDs, this is one of the few I pull out fairly regularly to listen to.

[Xandra73]

The whole 'obscure week' you featured bands I totally loved back in the days and all were part of my favorite bands list, none of them is new to me. Please keep up digging out these bands, this is what imo this site should be all about. Good bands from the good old days.

Sven Gali is one of the best bands ever.

[aXe mAn]

Yeah the first Sven Gali album was pretty good, but it's too bad that they tried to change with the times and went "grunge" with the second album.

You forgot to post my favorite song/video from them;
"Under the Influence":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b31HkdMDHa4

But you did a really good job this week Allyson! I always love to talk about the obscure or lesser-known bands...So many good ones out there.

[Tim G]

Awesome !! The guys from Sven are good friends of mine. Very under rated band. They've Reformed for a few shows around Niagara, Ontario. Check 'em out if ya get the chance.

[metalhead]

i got to see these guys a few times . a great band live. if you like this band, check out SLIK TOXIK, i seen them live afew times too.

[JT]

This has been a great week of posts, Allyson. I love reading about these bands, seeing their videos, and reading everyone's comments about other bands that never got the attention they deserved.

Speaking of other bands, check out Pyn Siren when you get a chance. They had an album released on Kivel Records in 2003 or 2004. It was compared to the harder-edged Skid Row stuff, and there are some gems there. Not every song is a winner, but there are 2 or 3 great ones that make it worth tracking down. I'll have to dig it out and play it on the radio show one of these days...

[glamrockerarchie]

svens first cd rocks straight through and are a great band live, ive seen them in the late 80's early 90's and the reunion shows they did recently still kick ass, dave sings in a friend of mines band and play a sven song once in a while but the guys are all nice and too bad the second cd sucke dsomethin fierce

[ALEXX]

YES THE FIRST CD ROCKS THEN THEY WENT GRUNGE WHAT A SHAME HEY ! THIS "OBSCURE" THING WAS COOL ALYSON THERES TO MANY MORE I HOPE SEE THIS BANDS HERE ANYBODY REMEMBER ROYAL COURT OF CHINA COOL BAND