By JAY ROBERTS

The Cassette Chronicles is a continuing series of mini reviews and reflections on albums from the 1980’s and 1990’s. The aim of this series is to highlight both known and underappreciated albums from rock, pop and metal genres from this time period through the cassette editions of their releases. Some of the albums I have known about and loved for years, while others are new to me and were music I’ve always wanted to hear. There will be some review analysis and my own personal stories about my connection with various albums. These opinions are strictly my own and do not reflect the views of anyone else at Limelight Magazine.

WINGER – PULL (1993)

After writing about Winger’s In the Heart of the Young album the last time around, I found myself on a bit of Winger kick. Which is why you are reading about their third album Pull this week.

But it is a stranger story still about this album than Album #2, where I knew the hits but hadn’t ever heard the rest of the album. This time, I’ve never heard the album at all. The only familiarity I had with any of the material comes from having seen the band live back in 2019. The first two tracks on Pull are “Blind Revolution Mad” and “Down Incognito” and they are, until now, the only songs I’d heard. But that’s because in looking up the expected set list for that concert I went to, I didn’t recognize these tracks and ended up looking them up on YouTube so I could be familiar with them. Of course, only “Down Incognito” was actually played during Winger’s set but at least I knew it.

So that’s my tale of experience with the Pull album. And now I could sit down and listen to it in full before writing the rest of this article.

In 1993, the glam metal that ruled the past decade or so was, if not entirely dead, certainly displaying its death rattle. Not exactly the best time for Winger to release their third album. And given the lack of commercial success, that fact seems to be borne out.

But as I looked up information online, the album does seem to be a particular favorite of their fans. With singer/bassist Kip Winger co-producing the album with Mike Shipley, the more glam aspects of the band’s sound were set aside and a heavier sound came to the forefront. Not too mention there is more of a progressive rock bent to the music at times too. And the lyrics changed from extolling the virtue of the girl being “only seventeen” to Winger leaning in on real world issues in at least three songs on the album.

As I said before “Blind Revolution Mad” and “Down Incognito” are the first two tracks on the album and though I sort of knew the songs, I had to familiarize myself with them again. I had forgotten that “Blind Revolution Mad” started off pretty low key for the first part of the song before Winger kicked the song into another gear and brought out the harder edged and faster moving part of the song. Kip Winger’s voice goes from soft and inviting to a real edgy and intense style as the tempo switches up. It makes for an interesting song to me (plus there’s that wild guitar solo) because both styles were important to make the song work as a whole.

As for “Down Incognito”, it was the only song that got officially released as a single. Given the time of the album’s release, I can’t say I’m overly surprised by that. But I do have to say that I found myself really digging into the song. You’ve got that bluesy harmonica that briefly opens the song and then a slow building musical soundtrack that seems to be played in a bit of a hushed tone until the band comes in on a more forceful take. They don’t hit the gas pedal so much as find a solidly rocking mid-tempo groove but when they hit that first solo break, you get the harmonica solo (from guest performer Frank Latorre) that keeps the grittier vibe of the song intact.

Of course, now I was dealing with the remaining 8 songs I’d never heard before so what would this new-to-me music do for me, right?

“Spell I’m Under” starts off slow enough to be a traditional power ballad but the hook and repeatable chorus aren’t quite up to those 1980s ballad expectations. Still, this ended up being a draw for me because while the pace was slow, the spots in the song where the band has a heavier touch kept me wondering in what direction they’d take the song next.

Let me just lay it out about the next song…”In My Veins” is a killer song! I love the way the band performs here. Rod Morgenstein’s drums are superb here and between the tastefully rocking guitar work and Winger’s drama-infused vocals/lyrics, this song was a shot in the arm that is guaranteed to get you pumped up.

As pumped as you’ll be with that track, it doesn’t quite adequately prepare you for how heavy the song “Junkyard Dog (Tears of Stone)” is and how powerful an impact the song will make. The song’s running time is nearly seven minutes long and the intensity doesn’t really let up until the final notes, even though there’s a few pacing changes throughout the track.

“The Lucky One” is definitely more of a ballad through the first portion of the song but once the band comes on in full, the song becomes a bit more interesting to hear. Well, for me at least. Meanwhile, “In For The Kill” is a stomping rocker with a message. I liked the heaviness of the performance and while I had to really pay attention to get what the band was aiming for with the lyrics, this was a really entertaining song with a point.

“No Man’s Land” rocks out right from the start! It’s got a great hook to draw you in and a set of lyrics that tell a story in an almost subversive kind of way. And Reb Beach’s solo…excellent. Is it me or does he not get enough credit as a guitarist? While “Like a Ritual” isn’t quite as lively stepping as “No Man’s Land”, it is still decidedly uptempo and yet another song that shines the brightest of spotlights on the band’s creativity for this album. The way the song closes out with a bit of a showcase for Rod Morgenstein really got to me. It’s not a long “solo” but it sure makes me want to seek out more of his playing (perhaps I need to check out some of his work with the Dixie Dregs). It’s a cool little jam.

The album closes out with the song “Who’s The One” and as it turns out, I appear to have known of this song for a while too. But I didn’t realize it until I heard the song as I was getting set to write this article. Now ask me if I can remember where I’ve heard the song before. The song stays in a decidedly midtempo pace and style for the majority of its run time, but with an acoustic guitar playing a major role musically and a great hook in the song’s chorus, this is actually a fantastic song. I have no idea why I forgot this song, which is kind of embarrassing to me, really. I loved Kip Winger’s vocal take on this song a lot!

Pull is the last of Winger’s studio albums to get a cassette release so I’m glad that I decided to write about the band the last couple of times. It may clear them out for any future articles in the series but man, I came away so impressed with this album. A different style for any band’s musical direction may not always work but Winger certainly handled things quite adeptly with the Pull album. It may have taken my three decades to realize this but Pull is an album that shows Winger taking a big step forward in the band’s evolution while providing a 10-song palette of incredible music for fans to enjoy.

NOTES OF INTEREST: The album’s lack of commercial success left the Pull peaking at #83 on the album charts.

The bonus track “Hell To Pay” was originally only on the Japanese edition of the album. It would then be included on the band’s compilation release The Very Best of Winger.

Other than the song “Spell I’m Under” which was written by Kip Winger alone, he and guitarist Reb Beach co-wrote the album together. Pull was recorded with the band performing as a trio after the departure of Paul Taylor who is mentioned in the album’s liner notes in a very positive fashion.