Tangier - Stranded (1991)

In the 1980s and early 1990s, Tangier mined the same commercial hard rock/pop-metal waters as the Scorpions, Winger and Def Leppard. Tangier wasn't in a class with those headbangers, and it never achieved their level of commercial success. Nonetheless, the band provided albums that were competent and likable, if conventional. Stranded won't win any awards for being innovative or experimental, though it's a decent, sincere effort that satisfies. Whether Tangier is rocking out on "It's Hard," "Down the Line," "Back in the Limelight" and "You're Not the Lovin' Kind" or going the power ballad route on "Caution to the Wind," "Since You Been Gone" and the title tune, this CD paints a likable though not breathtaking picture of the band. Stranded wasn't a huge seller, and Tangier wouldn't get many more chances to break through commercially -- for when alternative rock became rock's dominant direction a few years later, bands like Tangier found themselves out of fashion.

Review by Alex Henderson