Warrior is sort of the band that never was. When New England’s guitarist John Fannon left that band, the remaining members (Hirsch Gardner (drums), Gary Shea (bass) and Jimmy Waldo (keyboards) went on a quest to find a guitarist. The guy they settled on was Vincent Cusano. They actually relocated to Los Angeles to work with him on putting together a new band called Warrior.

They wrote songs, held rehearsals and recorded demos. Unfortunately, Cusano got another offer he couldn’t refuse. He adopted the stage name “Vinnie Vincent” and joined Kiss, replacing Ace Frehley.

These recordings represent a fairly complete collection of the output of the band that never got its chance. I should mention that I’ve previously reviewed all these songs on a couple of other collections. For the sake of consistency, I’ve used the track reviews from those reviews here, but this is the set to get them on, as far as I’m concerned.  

Keyboards bring this into being. The guitar screams out landing this more thoroughly in the metal zone. This is another that makes me think of the stuff Vincent would later do with Kiss. Comparisons to Motley Crue would not be out of the question, either.

Another with a lot of Kiss in the mix, this metal screamer really works pretty well. It's a stomper that has some solid hooks and drives well. I love some of the guitar sounds on this. There are definite glam rock leanings here. This is one of the hardest rocking things here.

Built around a very 80s pop metal structure, this has some hints of Foreigner. It is a bit more metallic than that, but the comparison is valid.

We're back into meatier metal territory here. This is a screaming hot cut that works well.

This killer guitar rocker makes me think of Montrose to some degree. It has more of a metal edge than that suggests, though.

This is another that's decidedly metallic. It has a lot of Kiss texture built into it, too. It's screaming hot and one of the strongest cuts on this first CD. All of that said, the chorus on this even makes me think of Cheap Trick a bit. I dig the guitar soloing on this thing.

Starting with a killer rocking guitar grind, as it works to the verse it takes on more of a power-pop element. The sound here isn't the best, but it is adequate. Comparisons to Cheap Trick wouldn't be out of the question on this number.

Among the most metallic stuff here, this also has a lot of the sound that Vincent would later show off with Kiss.

This cut is more of an 80s pop rock styled piece. It seems more closely tied to Bruce Springsteen than it does to metal or hard rock.. It is edgy and metallic, but also has some definite hooks built into it.

This cut which is sort of an 80s pop rocker shows that it's a demo for certain. The vocals are problematic. It's definitely one of the weak points here.

Another demo, this is a bit stronger than the previous one. It's also more of a driving rocker. For some reason I'm reminded of Todd Rundgren's Utopia a bit on this number.

This might be a writing demo, but it's actually one of the best cuts here. It has a great keyboard and vocal dominated arrangement. The hooks and evocative nature are both exceptional. This has a killer guitar solo, too.

While this cut is based on keyboards and vocals, if it were done in a guitar dominated arrangement it would be a killer metal number. It has some definite 80s based soaring hooks. It's another of the more effective pieces here.

More keyboard based, this number has a real 80s pop rock vibe to it. It still has plenty of tasty guitar in the mix. This does have a driving energy built into it. The vocals bring it more into metal territory, too.

This is decidedly a rehearsal with false starts and all. It's a cool tune, though, and works pretty well despite that stuff. At less than a minute-and-a-half this is very short.

This rehearsal segment, though, is considerably longer. It clocks in at over twenty minutes long. It's a bit much, but interesting.

This is a keyboard dominated number. It's another that's more mainstream pop rock tune than metal. It's effective, if a bit generic.

Other than a guitar solo, this is strictly a vocal-only arrangement. There are multiple layers of vocals, and it works pretty well in this format.

Note that the parenthetical on the original release I reviewed it on said “vocal demo,” so this review reflects that. The parenthetical on this one somewhat describes what you get here. However, this does have keyboards in addition to the vocals. It works alright for what it is.

Now here we get into some decidedly Motley Crue like metal. This stomper is so cool. As you might guess from the parenthetical, it's sans vocals, but screaming hot.      

I dig the AOR metal vibe on this cool cut.

This is another high energy metallic instrumental piece.

This instrumental take on the earlier cut is a rawer metal grind.

(Note that I’ve listed the title as it’s shown on this collection, but it’s actually typo. It should say “Streets” plural as it did on the previous release. Here is another killer instrumental take one of the songs from before. I think I like this better without the vocals.

This is a screaming hot tune whether with or without vocals.

I dig this rendition of the number. It definitely rocks.

With a weird little run through before the cut starts, this is another solid rendition of the number from the main recordings. There is a big section of discussion and stuff at the end of this. Anyone who has ever been in a band will find that kind of rehearsal conversation and bits of music to be very familiar.

They do a bit of a stripped down rehearsal on this at the start. There is some tuning going on from there. Then they launch into the actual song. The mix here is very bass heavy. I definitely prefer the other version. Part of that is the mix, but I think I prefer Cusano's vocals.

Now, this cut is on fire. The recording leaves a lot to be desired, but the magic of the tune shows through anyway.

With a bit of work-through at the start, this thing really fires out into a smoking hot metal number. It's one of the best cuts here, really.