Styrian Spirit

When Styrian Spirit burst onto the eighties rock scene, many fans expected the act to fetch a high bounty in the fallout immediately following a label war and sell enough copies of their debut to topple giants like Def Leppard and Poison. Touring primarily in Europe since their formation in 1981, the band had gained a significant following yet still did not garner the attention of a major label.

Unconcerned, the band opted to record their own album in a rented house near the ocean. However, more than a year before the scheduled release of their independent debut, Triumph Over Old Age, lead vocalist Chuck Gottlieb died of a massive overdose. What few vocals Gottlieb had performed were rehearsal takes recorded on a thirty dollar handheld cassette recorder.

With the vocal tracks laid down on shoddy equipment and essentially unusable, the remaining members realized their ticket to stardom had just been revoked. Gottlieb embodied the heart and soul of the band, and without him Styrian Spirit was just another run-of-the-mill hair band.

As a tribute to their fallen bandmate, the band went ahead and recorded the entire album as it had been originally conceived - sans the vocals. Lead guitarist Randy Westmore incorporated an edgy, driving rock sound - hence the title of the leadoff single "Drive Rock".

Typical for bands of their time, Styrian Spirit also penned dreamlike ballads such as the wistful "Last Dance." The cut presented here is a demo version, which originally featured as the b-side for the single "Drive Rock."

Upon it's release in April of 1986, the album proved a universal flop. In fact, sales were so poor that the band themselves removed the record from printing. Copies of the album are extremely rare and usually in cassette format. After the record went bust, the band went their seperate ways and never reformed.

Of course, the burgeoning "instrumental guitar rock" genre would flourish with the release of Joe Satriani's landmark album Surfing with the Alien a year later. Though many would carry on the torch and arguably handle it with superior skill, Styrian Spirit are unsung pioneers in this field.

Today we salute the bold deeds of Styrian Spirit, even if they did not pay off in the long run. . .

"Drive Rock" from Triumph Over Old Age (1986)

"Last Dance" from Triumph Over Old Age (1986)