Johnny Lima – Shine On (1999)

Unvinyl #4

The title of this article is clearly a hyperbole, but ‘Shine On’, the sophomore effort by Johnny Lima from San Francisco, might really be the best hair metal album you missed. As you go through its songs, you can easily spot the influence of some big bands: “This is Bon Jovi; this sounds like Def Leppard; this one has a Bryan Adams feel; oh, here’s Winger; is this Europe?; yay, Firehouse!”. To be fair, when I interviewed him back then for an old fanzine and mentioned some of these bands, he was quick to point out: “I like Winger, but they didn’t influence me in any way.” Nevertheless, some hooks (see the opener ‘Leavin’ In The Morning’) definitely bring that sound to mind. Elsewhere, the sweet ballad ‘Memory Lane’ has Def Leppard written all over it, while the upbeat ‘Wild Young & Crazy In Love’ wouldn’t have sounded out of place on Bryan Adams’ best-seller ‘Waking Up The Neighbours’. “It’s a song about two young kids who are in love — Johnny told me back then about the latter — Kind of like a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde. I think the vibe of that song perfectly reflects my personality: always upbeat and cheerful!”. Also worth a mention are ‘My Country ’Tis Of Thee’, possibly the most Bon Jovi–esque (circa ‘7800° Fahrenheit’) track of the lot, and ‘Touch Of Love’, whose bright melody brings to mind Europe’s ‘Out Of This World’ era.

So why give a record that wears its influences so openly on its sleeve a chance? Two very important reasons. First and foremost: the songs. They are incredibly catchy and well-crafted. You’ll find yourself humming the choruses within a minute, and you can’t reach that level of effectiveness just by copying the masters. Hats off to Johnny. “You know – he added – When I make an album, I don’t stop to think about how it’s supposed to sound. I’m not the kind of guy who sits down and says, ‘Okay, I want to write this kind of song or that kind of song.’ However my songs turn out, I like them”.

Furthermore, he was doing this in 1999, when hair metal was literally dead and buried. Not many were playing this kind of music at that point, let alone THIS well. If you’re into ’80s melodic hard rock, tracking down ‘Shine On’ is mandatory. Perfect to blast in your car on a sunny day.

CHANCES OF VINYLIZATION: Very low. When ‘Shine On’ came out, it was released through the then-existing partnership between British label Now & Then (now defunct) and Italian label Frontiers. While Frontiers is currently pressing its most important new albums on vinyl, the label has so far shown no interest in reissuing anything from its back catalogue on vinyl, so a repackage seems unlikely. Johnny re-released his first and third albums as a double CD package through Australian label Melodic Rock Records. The fact that the second was skipped might also indicate issues with copyrights and ownership.

🟥 Unvinyl is a series of articles about great music not available on vinyl (at the time of writing). A full index can be found here.