Power 96 Cool One Recap: Loudness

Yesterday I dug up a band I hadn't thought about in a long time called Loudness and featured them as the Power 96 Cool One artist by playing their biggest U.S. hit "Crazy Nights" from their Thunder in the East album released on November 9, 1985. The album made it onto the charts, reaching No. 74 on the U.S. Billboard 200.

This hard-rocking band was unique in that they were from Japan. Despite the fact that their lead singer, Minoru Niihara, only had a basic grasp of English, which made for an interesting translation of lyrics at times, this band knew how to rock. The guitar styling of Akira Takasaki is very reminiscent of Eddie Van Halen's earlier work. If you plan on checking these guys out, make sure you pick up either Thunder in the East or Lightning Strikes because after those two albums they dumped Niihara in favor of an English-speaking lead singer named Mike Vescara.

Today's Power 96 Cool One, brought to you by Kelly's Auto Parts in Faribault, features solo work from a former member of the Beatles. Listen for the next Cool One at 4:35PM to find out who it is.