By Stephen Kasenda
XYZ "XYZ" (1989)
Not to be confused with Jimmy Page's XYZ, this band actually hailed from L.A. and became one of the house bands for the Whisky Club at Sunset Strip. Don Dokken saw that they had big potential and produced the first album, spawning the minor hit "Inside Out", which I think is a decent song compared to the more superior tracks such as "Maggy", "Take What You Can", or the soul-cleansing acoustical-thang, "After The Rain".
My other fave tracks are "What Keeps Me From Loving You", which sounds very Whitesnake-ish and "Nice Day To Die", a tune that races the rhythm to the limit - a speedy Dokken-style song. The highlight of the band is the monster vocals of Terry Ilous, who sounds very close to Don Dokken himself, only better in some aspects. This album is a dazzling and distinctive release in 1989 featuring a whole lotta killer tracks by a superb band.
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