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 Mom of 2 Feb 22, 2008
I love this CD I had it on tape in high school ... reminds me of my young and single days. I love John Waite and prefer soft rock.
Megapowerballadopolis May 05, 2006
What happens when Journey meets The Babys? A "new" supergroup consisting of ex-Babys John Waite, Jonathon Cain, and Ricky Phillips, who combine with ex-Journey guitarist Neal Schon and little-known drummer Deen Castronovo to produce the quintessential power ballad band. Not that there's anything wrong with that in this case - I still have both BE albums in rotation. Waite and Cain continue their songwriting collaborations from their Babys days, with Schon contributing on many of the tracks on the album. The combination of writers seems to be the key that keeps the band from sounding too much like either The Babys or Journey, but ironically enough their best-known single "When I See You Smile" was written by an external songwriter. The album is produced by Richie Zito so the production quality is slick, albiet pretty typical `80s style with big drums. The one exception is the single, which sounds like it was produced to sound the best being broadcast by an AM radio station through a 4" speaker, which, if I know the industry, it likely was.
This is an album that will likey satisfy most Babys and John Waite fans, and may even attract a few more who found The Babys a little too light. Both Bad English albums are comparable in quality and content with the second being maybe a bit harder, but they're both good enough.
0 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 Bad English inspires the odd bit of bad French Mar 21, 2006
Yes yes we all know the mega hit When I See You Smile. But it would be unfair to put this album into the one hit wonder basket and instead review it as a whole.
The band hits gear pretty early with Best of What I Got but after that it's pretty bad. How Possession ever became a hit I've not idea. Well, where I come from it didn't, but in the US this mob had a string of soppy power ballad hits.
The production is good but the fire goes out for most of the album. Neil Schon is a great guitarist but it was the late 80's and the guy obviously knew what he had to do for a decent paycheck. Besides, he probably wanted some revenge on Steve Perry so he really wanted to make some cash. Pity, listen to some of the guitar licks here and there is a decent hard rock album in the man. Rockin' Horse for example.
An interesting additin to the AOR landscape, and some of the music is lively. But when the whole thing has as much heft as a lettuce leaf it just doesn't get my vote. Even my devoted AOR fan girlfriend of the time only liked the one track (we all know which one).
But hey, if AOR is your bag you could do a lot worse!
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
mid career comeback Feb 06, 2006
To my surprise in early 1990 I heard the song "When I see you smile" -or WISYS to Waite devotees- coming from the flat above. I had bought the album about 6 months previously and had just assumed that it would be ignored as about 5 Babys and 3 Waite solo albums had been.
Waite sings on all the tracks and says Neal Schon's guitar playing is so good it's hard to believe it's a human being playing!
The band put two albums together and enjoyed touring and playing to stadium sized audiences. Waite had problems with corporate music, as a consequence the band never became a "power" in the music scene.
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
A strong melodic hard rock release Oct 20, 2005
Bad English's self-titled debut was released in 1989. The band combined the forces of Journey members Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain with ex-Babys lead vocalist John Waite, who was best known for his 1984 hit, "Missing You." Spawning three hit singles as well as several tracks that made the rounds on album-oriented rock radio, the album was a big hit at a time when hard rock and especially power ballads were in vogue. However, like many "supergroups", such as Asia and Damn Yankees, they peaked with their debut album and their subsequent album would lead to their inevitable breakup.
Bad English has a very big production reminiscent of the era and the material presented is strong throughout. The #1 hit "When I See You Smile", with its instantly recognizable keyboard line, is one of the best power ballads of the era, and also one of many written by songwriter extraordinare Diane Warren. The power ballads "Price of Love" and "Possession" were also big hits and are nearly as memorable as "When I You See Smile." The lesser known AOR hits include the solid melodic hard rockers "Forget Me Not", "Heaven Is a 4 Letter Word", and "Best of What I Got." The remaining songs, while not nearly as memorable, are still very good, whether it's the hard rock of "Lay Down" and "Rockin' Horse", the pop-rock of "Tough Times Don't Last" and "The Restless Ones", or the closing ballad "Don't Walk Away." After this album, the band's next album Backlash was met with just that as their sound was falling out of favor to the grunge movement and gangsta rap. However, the band really put it together here and fans of good melodic hard rock will enjoy this.
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