Best of What I Got
Heaven Is a 4 Letter Word
Possession
Forget Me Not
When I See You Smile
Tough Times Don't Last
Ghost in Your Heart
Price of Love
Ready When You Are
Lay Down
The Restless Ones
Rockin' Horse
Don't Walk Away
Bad English were a supergroup when the phrase actually meant something. Their million-dollar line-up featured members of The Babys (bassist Ricky Phillips and singer John Waite, the latter a solo star in his own right), Journey (guitarist Neal Schon) and a keyboard player (Jonathan Cain) who played with both.
What could possibly go wrong? Nothing apart from timing, it turned out. Their self-titled debut album arrived in 1989, moments before the melodic rock ship was beached by the tidal wave of changing musical tastes. Its two monster hits, When I See You Smile and The Price Of Love, were perfectly pitched late-80s ballads, marshmallow-soft hankie-wavers. But it was when Bad English – and especially Schon – cranked things up that they were most effective.
The hard-edged Rockin’ Horse belies its kids’-toy title, while the Anne Rice-inspired Gothic AOR of Forget Me Not remains one of the towering tunes of the era (for aficionados, this reissue adds two unreleased but inessential remixes).
What happened next is scrawled in the history books: grunge came and everything changed. There were still great AOR albums and bands to come, but not one had the success of the old days. Bad English marked the end of an era, but what a last hurrah it was.
Every week, Album of the Week Club listens to and discusses the album in question, votes on how good it is, and publishes our findings, with the aim of giving people reliable reviews and the wider rock community the chance to contribute.
Other albums released in June 1989
- Agent Orange - Sodom
- Flowers in the Dirt - Paul McCartney
- Passion - Peter Gabriel
- In Step - Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
- World in Motion - Jackson Browne
- Trouble in Angel City - Lion
- Extreme Aggression - Kreator
- Gretchen Goes To Nebraska - King's X
- Mr. Big - Mr. Big
- The Real Thing - Faith No More
- Cosmic Thing - The B-52s
- The End of the Innocence - Don Henley
- The Iron Man: The Musical - Pete Townshend
- Magnum Cum Louder - Hoodoo Gurus
- Margin Walker - Fugazi
- Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe - Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe
What they said...
"The superb musicianship of all involved (notably Journey guitarist Neal Schon) fits the vocals of John Waite like a glove, and the songwriting isn’t
too shabby either. Opener Best Of What I Got sets the tone for an album of catchy, polished AOR – anthemic and rocking for the most part, but with a few power ballads thrown in for good measure." (Record Collector)
"Epic Records might have pushed Bad English’s power ballad side a little too hard, a major disservice to an otherwise fine record. The heavy rock of Lay Down demonstrated the band was much harder than the soft and sensitive radio hits might have led listeners to believe, while Tough Times Don’t Last and Ready When You Are are driving rockers that have aged quite nicely as well." (The Recoup)
"When everything meshes, as on Heaven Is A Four Letter Word, a thumping rock song, perfect for Waite’s earnest, mannered vocals, the band’s talent, individually and collectively, shines through. Producer Richie Zito is not a big fan of light and shade and too often trowels on the polish, suffocating the song, but standout track, Forget Me Not, a twanging, fiercely passionate love song, knows no such limits, and for once (or twice) Waite’s vocals and lyrics break through genre conventions. (The Midlands Rocks)
What you said...
Mark Herrington: A bit like the Black Forest Gateau of AOR - one slice is ok - but consuming the entire sugary thing is just too much to stomach, and that first slice novelty rapidly disappears.
John Waite is a vocalist best heard in small doses on a compilation album - a whole overlong album of him soon wears thin. Neal Schon is the saving grace, producing some welcome relief with great guitar. Most of the songs are fairly forgettable and seem to drift into one.
Waite’s spat with Journey probably originated from when Johnathan Cain left The Babys, joined Journey and made Open Arms, a success Waite dismissed it as ‘crap’ - plus the fact that Journey could actually make one or two decent rock albums. I don’t mind a good album of this genre, but this ain’t one of them.
Gary Claydon: Waite's main gripe about the Bad English project was that it turned out to be too "corporate rock". Which leads one to wonder what exactly he thought he was signing up for in the first place? Given the personnel involved, it was never going to be anything else. They were hardly gonna be Motorhead, were they?
Brian Carr: It’s been so long, so I can’t say my memory is 100% accurate, but I seem to remember being stoked about John Waite and Neal Schon coming together, especially after I heard the first track Forget Me Not, an absolute killer. All of these decades later, despite the album being part of my Apple Music library, I don’t listen to it other than the aforementioned song. I actually don’t recall listening to Bad English much at all since the album release, which is probably why my memory is so vague.
I did give it a run-through this week, and I’ve figured out multiple problems. Foremost is the fact that the songs don’t often grab me. Equally problematic is that the balance of keyboards to guitars is vastly tilted in the wrong direction, especially considering Bad English included Neal Schon, a melodic rock guitar master.
Next concern is the length - I listened during my 45-minute drive to work and still had a chunk left, which is great if you’re digging an album, less so if you’re not. Lastly, not much later, two other Journey member projects were released that I really liked quite a bit: Schon was part of Hardline’s debut Double Eclipse, while Gregg Rolie joined up with the Vallory-Smith rhythm section for a one-off album called The Storm.
Reading a bit about the band, I was unsurprised to read that Schon wasn’t much involved in the songwriting for Bad English. Also of little surprise was that the band fizzled partly due to Neal’s frustration at the band’s musical direction. They had a couple of hits, but ultimately, Journey was the place Neal needed to be.
Nick Tedds: When I first heard about the proposed ‘supergroup’ Bad English, I remember being excited and intrigued by the prospect in equal measure. The group members had forged solid reputations by their previous endeavours, but would their new collaboration work?
My initial reaction on hearing the album was that it actually surpassed expectations, with Forget Me Not and When I See You Smile having an immediate impact, supported by a solid set of eleven melodic hard rock tunes. It actually felt like a proper album with few fillers and a cut above much being produced by other AOR-ish bands at the time.
How does it stack up today? Still pretty well, I think. Yes, the production sounds a little dated; a couple of tracks could be omitted to trim the running time, and it will never in a million years win over those who view the genre with disdain. I have, however, got a real soft spot for this album, and it sits well within vocalist John Waite’s back catalogue.
Greg Schwepe: So, for the Bad English debut, before you even get to the music, you have to do one of those Rock Family Tree flowcharts just to look at who’s in the band and to see their “musical interconnectedness” (a made-up term. It’s a Reviewer Thing!).
Jonathan Cain and John Waite were in The Babys together. Bassist Ricky Phillips then joined, so Waite could drop the bass and focus on vocals. Then Cain left The Babys when there was a vacancy at Journey’s keyboard bench, teaming up with Neal Schon, and that band went to another level. Then that Journey lineup imploded, and Bad English became a family reunion of sorts, kind of with “cousins.” Drummer Deen Castronovo comes aboard. Oh, and he’s currently the drummer in Journey with Schon and Cain. Got all this? That's why you need a flowchart.
In theory, if you liked The Babys and Journey, you probably liked Bad English when it came out. And if you didn’t like either band, maybe you blew this one off. But wait, if you listen to it in full, you hear that it probably rocks harder than anything from The Babys and Journey.
Whether you call this a supergroup or not, there’s a lot of talent (and records sold!) here. If you ask someone to name the top five 80s rock vocalists, Waite might not be top of mind. But if you ask someone what they think of John Waite, they'll probably say “Oh yeah…he’s good!” and rattle off at least two or three songs he sings on. And then you’ve got the songwriting of Jonathan Cain, along with his keyboard skills. And then there’s Neal Schon, who really gets to shred. Not that he hasn’t before, but he doesn’t have to keep his style in the context of a former band.
Heaven Is a 4 Letter Word, the slinky, bluesy Rockin’ Horse, and Forget Me Not might be my rocking favourites from this album. But in listening multiple times, the rocking song list kept growing.
When I See Your Smile is a power ballad with a capital “P” and “B.” It almost comes with unwritten instructions for the crowd when they hear it at a show. “1) Wave your lighter or cell phone. 2) Sway together in unison. 3) Sing like crazy when the chorus hits. 4) Play air guitar when Schon gets rippin’.”
This was played heavily on FM radio in my area when it was released. And to be honest, it was probably only When I See Your Smile Smile that got airplay. If that one got you to buy the album, you got a nice 80s melodic rock collection of songs to go along with that ballad. And like most groups of this ilk, they stuck together for another album before going back to their day jobs. 8 out of 10 on this one for me.
Philip Qvist: Less of a supergroup, and more of when former members of the Babys joined forces with members, and soon-to-be members, of Journey. And coming in at the tail end of the 80s, this self-titled debut from Bad English was probably the last hurrah for AOR music as we knew it.
It has the obligatory Diane Warren song in the form of the decent When I See Her Smile, while it has standard AOR rockers such as The Best Of What I Got, Forget Me Not, Rockin' Horse and Price Of Love. The songs are good, but not many live long in the memory.
While I gravitated towards the AOR bands when my music journey began, I was starting to tire of that genre by the time the 90s had started, and I can see why this album never really interested me at the time.
Bad English is also a victim of "CD-itis", where 13 songs and a running time of over 62 minutes is just too much. A simple culling of two or three tracks would have made this album far more palatable.
The older version of me can now appreciate the music on this album for what it is, and Bad English is a perfect time capsule of what music was like in the late 1980s, but it won't be on my list of albums you must listen to before you die. I will give this one a generous 7.
Graham Tarry: This is a tremendous AOR album. Loads of songs, all top quality, with memorable tunes and great playing. 13 tracks over two sides of vinyl; still a favourite in my collection
John Davidson: File under Tina Turner meets Bon Jovi with the production values of a Miami Vice soundtrack album. It's so 80s you can barely hear the music over the sound of shoulder pads rustling on their yachts.
It seems like I really, really don't like AOR, and this album sets my teeth on edge. Maybe thats a me problem. I did make it all the way through, which wasn't a given at the start.
The songs seem trite and the production is too glossy. I like Waite's voice well enough, and this prompted me to listen to The Babys. They're not perfect, but they are a more authentic outfit than this lot (UFO meets Bad Company when they all feel like playing Foreigner songs)
4/10 . Bad English is competent, but utterly free of art or soul.
Adam Ranger: This is so not my thing. I am not a big fan of AOR, US radio-friendly rock generally. There are too many schmaltzy tunes in the list of 13 for my taste, although I will always have time for When I See Her Smile as it reminds me of my beautiful wife
There are some more rockier numbers in the album, which are pleasant enough, although maybe not memorable. The album is well produced and played (Neal Schon especially at times). But it is a bit dated for me. That AOR keyboard is too prevalent, and maybe lacks real feeling at times. It's a good album as far as this genre goes, but not one I will be listening to again in a hurry. Apart from that one track.
Andy Crawley: 40-odd years later, Forget Me Not is still on my favourites playlist. A straight 9 for that track alone.
Jacob Tannehill: Great album. Everyone was kinda hitting a wall musically at the same time. So why not join forces and create a killer album of melodic rock?
Gary Claydon: Well, that was hard work. A mix of tracks straight out of the AOR playbook and a load of ballads. Production so polished and shiny that every time I pressed play, magpies tried to steal my stereo. Occasionally, when the band threaten to escape the constraints of Richie Zito's production, there are the green shoots of life, such as on Heaven Is a 4 Letter Word, but even then it's dragged down by some execrable lyrics (What's the 4 letter word boys, eh, eh? Nudge, nudge, wink, wink).
Schon cranks out a couple of tasty licks, but if you want to know what he is capable of outside of Journey, then you'd be much better served by listening to another 'supergroup' effort, the one-off 'HSAS' album. I like John Waite's vocals and a couple of tracks by The Babys have been regular inclusions on my playlists since the late 70s, but nothing here impresses.
In summation, maybe we should leave the last word to Waite. In a 2012 interview with Metal Sludge, the singer said, "I mean, I hate to say it, but I listen to Journey and think 'Jesus Christ, that is just wrong'. That's why there will never be a Bad English reunion. It's for super white people listening to super white music. Fuck that. I'd rather shoot myself."
Final score: 6.51 (47 votes cast, total score 306)
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