And you thought DEF LEPPARD had their share of tragedy!

I first heard of the band BILOXI back in 1996 when a friend of mine burned me a copy of their debut release “Let The Games Begin.” What a great, great debut (I thought) but by the time I first heard the release, the band had already broken up following the untimely deaths of their manager Bob Simis and guitarist Rich Symons. So… as with most CD’s where the band only has one or two releases before they break-up, “Let The Games Begin” got shelved… but was not forgotten.

I remember whipping out the release somewhere around late 2005 to give it a whirl again in my CD player. After listening to it and remembering, again, what a great release it was, I decided to look up some of the band’s old members to see what they had been up to. To my surprise, I read that original lead vocalist and founding member Clyde Holly had been keeping himself busy at his recording studio (HollyHouse Recording Studio) producing local area bands for the past several years. I went on to read that in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Holly had decided to reform the band and was working on new material. I was very excited to hear this and tried to keep up with the band’s progression for the next few months.

The one day I had been looking around and came across the tragic news that on September 10, 2006, Clyde Holly had died of complications due to sleep apnia… a condition I myself suffer from. This really hit home for me when I found out and beyond that, I was really saddened not only of the band suffering yet another tragedy, but the fact that all the music they had been working on would, more than likely, be lost forever…

But the band didn’t fold!

Instead, they continued on and carried out what Holly had started… a CD entitled “Biloxi III – In The Wake of The Storm.” Although all the original members are gone, BILOXI (now composed of drummer Rob Gronkoski, bassist Dave Melton, keyboardist Stephan Prescott and lead vocalist/ guitarist Mark Allen Lanoue) has moved on to create another good melodic rock release that would make Holly very, very proud. While not quite as potent as “Let The Games Begin,” “I.T.W.O.T.S.” still maintains all the powerful, melodic hooks and harmonies BILOXI is known for and even branches out into an even heavier direction.

The CD opens with the melodic-rocker “Here Alone” which features a good, solid melody and a big, heavy-harmonic chorus in the vein of STRYPER or late 80’s TNT. This is complimented by other up-tempo rockers like “15 Minutes,” “Broken (which is one of the tracks that Holly recorded guitars on before his passing),” and one of my favorite tracks “On The Other Side.”

“Saints and Angels” is a soft, acoustic-driven ballad, and, although a bit darker and more haunting, “Empty Road To Nowhere” finds itself in the same genre with some nice orchestral-sounding accompaniment. Then there’s another one of my favorite tracks where Holly lets his guitar do the singing on the instrumental “Fly Into The Sun”… almost reminding me of the mid-70’s JOURNEY compositions. And as a final tribute to Holly, “I.T.W.O.T.S.” also includes a cover of one of my favorite POLICE songs “Synchronicity II.” This, again, features Holly on both guitar and vocals with an intro so scarily close to the original it almost sounds sampled! But Holly and the band do an incredible job on this classic rocker.

BILOXI’s “In The Wake of the Storm” does not disappoint. If you’re a fan of AOR or melodic rock, make sure this one finds itself into your collection.