Who's Behind The Door..........The official Zebra appreciation thread.

[fraroc]

What can I say about Zebra.....How can I describe this band in the most sufficient way...Basically, imagine if Rush and Led Zeppelin had a love child, that's basically the best way I can describe them. Guitarist and vocalist Randy Jackson has a very unique voice that is a cross between 1970s Geddy Lee and Robert Plant with some of the most powerful falsettos I have ever heard in my life. Also, he's a pretty damn good guitarist who can actually shred pretty fast when he wants to. Felix Hanneman is not only a good bassist, but is also is an amazing keyboardist who can multitask playing bass notes with one hand, and melodies with the other. Guy Gelso is a criminally underrated drummer who is kind of like a cross between John Bonham and Alex Van Halen with not only a huge Bonham-esque sound, but can also bust into a furious double bass when he wants to....

 

 

In my opinion, Their best album was definitely their debut album Zebra with songs like Tell Me What You Want, Take Your Fingers From My Hair (which Dream Theatre covered), Who's Behind The Door?, La La Song, and When You Get There. Their other albums, No Tellin' Lies, 3.5, and Zebra 4 have their gems, but their first album is definitely their best and definitely most memorable.

 

More bands need to consider the possibility of Zebra being the special guest for summer tour packages. Sometimes, I even wish Rush would have not stopped having opening acts because Zebra would honestly be perfect for the job.

[toymaker]

His voice has a bit of grit, but not gravel. He sounds more like Emmett with the higher notes - a bit thin.

 

It's listenable - some of the tunes are great - but I don't think they're quite in the same league.

[Bigbobby10]

Dont know much about them, what is a good album to start with by them?

[Digital Dad]

Btw its not a falsetto. Its called head voice.

 

An example of falsetto singing is Barry Gibb.

[Relayer2112]

I saw them years ago open for BOC and they were great. They are talented musicians who don't have a whole lot of song writing ability (4 legit albums in 30 years). They are evidently headlining a prog festival in Gettysburg this summer. The headlining pickings must have been slim for that to happen.

[nappy2112]

Saw them open for ZZ Top in '83 ...great band !

[ytserush]

I listen to those first three albums and the two live albums far more than I should. IV isn't half bad either.

 

I've never really heard much Rush from them (other than the high pitched vocals) but a little Zeppelin is in there.

 

Great live too. Even Randy Jackson's acoustic shows are pretty cool.

[goose]

Like Fraroc said, a great debut album. Saw them in '85 or '86, and they were killer. Strange that they followed up such a monster debut with an album that had "Bears' as the single.

[fraroc]

Like Fraroc said, a great debut album. Saw them in '85 or '86, and they were killer. Strange that they followed up such a monster debut with an album that had "Bears' as the single.

 

Bears is f***ing awesome

[Leanne]

I bought 'Tell me what you want' from iTunes over the weekend. Need to listen to more of their stuff.

[ytserush]

Like Fraroc said, a great debut album. Saw them in '85 or '86, and they were killer. Strange that they followed up such a monster debut with an album that had "Bears' as the single.

 

Bears is f***ing awesome

 

So is No Tellin' Lies.

 

But then I like those first three studio albums fairly equally. I'd put IV, which was recorded about 15 years later, just a shade below that, but it's still a good one.

[fraroc]

 

 

Awesome video of Zebra still performing in 2016 :) They sound pretty good.

[Segue Myles]

 

 

Awesome video of Zebra still performing in 2016 :) They sound pretty good.

 

Hello!

 

I am so sorry for being a jerk last night I actually said after you left I dunno why I was so rude.

 

Anyway...I now like Zebra thanks to you and I have two bands, one from the seventies and one from the eighties, that I think you might like.

 

Trillion

Strangeways

 

I think if you like Zebra you may enjoy these, they are good fun AOR/pop rock.

 

[ytserush]

 

 

Awesome video of Zebra still performing in 2016 :) They sound pretty good.

 

It's been a few years since I've seen them, but they sound like they still bring it.

 

Thanks for posting this.

[fraroc]

 

 

Awesome video of Zebra still performing in 2016 :) They sound pretty good.

 

It's been a few years since I've seen them, but they sound like they still bring it.

 

Thanks for posting this.

 

They did actually tune down a half-step starting this year, but other than that Randy Jackson, even at the age of 60, still has the pipes.

[LakesideShark]

*gasp* Zebra! I love them! I agree with fraroc that their debut album is the best. although I think 3.V is a really close second.

"Take Your Fingers From My Hair" is the song that got me interested in them.

 

They came around here in 2014, but I was broke and had no money to go to the show (what kills me even more is the venue was five or ten minutes from my house).

[Permanent-Rush]

*gasp* Zebra! I love them! I agree with fraroc that their debut album is the best. although I think 3.V is a really close second.

"Take Your Fingers From My Hair" is the song that got me interested in them.

 

They came around here in 2014, but I was broke and had no money to go to the show (what kills me even more is the venue was five or ten minutes from my house).

 

Aw. Maybe they will come back there some day.

 

[ytserush]

 

 

Awesome video of Zebra still performing in 2016 :) They sound pretty good.

 

It's been a few years since I've seen them, but they sound like they still bring it.

 

Thanks for posting this.

 

They did actually tune down a half-step starting this year, but other than that Randy Jackson, even at the age of 60, still has the pipes.

 

He sure does.

[Super25Smasher]

I freakin' love me some Zebra. Randy Jackson covered some Rush songs for a tribute album

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxLYttfkb9M

Edited July 3, 2016 by Super25Smasher

[ytserush]

Never picked New World Man up because everything but New World Man, Fly By Night, Force Ten and I Omega's version of Tom Sawyer were previously released on Working Men and Subdivisions so I wasn't highly motivated to pick up Magna Carta's "Third" volume in the Rush tribute series.

 

I suppose they are still novel listens these days, but not much more than that. It's probably been more than a year since I put one of them on.

[LakesideShark]

*gasp* Zebra! I love them! I agree with fraroc that their debut album is the best. although I think 3.V is a really close second.

"Take Your Fingers From My Hair" is the song that got me interested in them.

 

They came around here in 2014, but I was broke and had no money to go to the show (what kills me even more is the venue was five or ten minutes from my house).

 

Aw. Maybe they will come back there some day.

 

 

They actually are! At the same venue, too!! I couldn't believe it when we drove by the Largo Cultural Center today and I saw the sign out front said "Zebra 10/22" on it.

So, while I still have the money, I bought a ticket. :D

[Permanent-Rush]

*gasp* Zebra! I love them! I agree with fraroc that their debut album is the best. although I think 3.V is a really close second.

"Take Your Fingers From My Hair" is the song that got me interested in them.

 

They came around here in 2014, but I was broke and had no money to go to the show (what kills me even more is the venue was five or ten minutes from my house).

 

Aw. Maybe they will come back there some day.

 

 

They actually are! At the same venue, too!! I couldn't believe it when we drove by the Largo Cultural Center today and I saw the sign out front said "Zebra 10/22" on it.

So, while I still have the money, I bought a ticket. :D

 

AWESOME!!

 

:D

[Jaminbenb]

What's interesting is that way before Who's Behind the Door started hitting the radio waves, I had a cousin from Long Island that used to go see them all the time, and had some of their stuff from the clubs... they did a lot of cool covers, a bunch of Zeppelin and the odd Rush tune, and I forget who else... When I first heard WBTD on the radio, I called her up and said :you won't believe who I just heard on the radio!?!"

 

I got to see them open for Loverboy in 1983..great band!!! They just played a local festival in Gettysburg this summer....I was bummed because I couldn't go to it (Spock's Beard headlined one night, they headlined the next)

[ytserush]

What's interesting is that way before Who's Behind the Door started hitting the radio waves, I had a cousin from Long Island that used to go see them all the time, and had some of their stuff from the clubs... they did a lot of cool covers, a bunch of Zeppelin and the odd Rush tune, and I forget who else... When I first heard WBTD on the radio, I called her up and said :you won't believe who I just heard on the radio!?!"

 

I got to see them open for Loverboy in 1983..great band!!! They just played a local festival in Gettysburg this summer....I was bummed because I couldn't go to it (Spock's Beard headlined one night, they headlined the next)

 

I wanted to go to that festival too. Rites Of Spring, right?

[JohnRogers]

So do they have ten or more great songs???