REVIEW: Deadline – Deadline (1992)

DEADLINE – Deadline (1992 Deadline Productions)

DEADLINE_0008Old school adherents of the classic Pepsi Power Hour may remember the video for “Donna (Do You Wanna)” by Sarnia Ontario’s Deadline.  This self-titled mini-album was not their first release, they did have an indi cassette before this.  Their 1992 CD debut was impressive quality for the period.  “Friction Addiction” (heard in re-recorded form on Raw M.E.A.T 3) is a cool, innovative hard rock number with a funky lead vocal.  The guys were all musically and vocally talented:  the Wood brothers Tim and Tom (vocals and drums respectively), Paul Albert (bass), and Shawn Meehan (guitars).  “Friction Addition” was exactly the kind of song that could have become a hit in 1992.  It was still upbeat, good-time hard rock, but with modern elements that the 1990’s demanded.

“Donna” sounds like an outtake from Extreme’s first album, a bit dated now.  It’s a nice shuffle complete with harmonica blasts, and fans of that old time hard rock will still like it.  The juvenile lyrics however are way below the quality of the music and playing.  “Nothing Left to Lose” is a somber ballad, a cross between Europe’s “Tomorrow” and Dokken’s “Alone Again”.  Bassist Paul Albert is credited as the pianist on the track.

DEADLINE_0001“Imagine That” is one of those early 90’s Ugly Kid Funk Metal™ tracks.  Paint a visual picture and you’ll probably be pretty close.  Regardless of the dated sound, it is still a pretty fun song.  Following that is the less-funky “Do You Believe”, a fun hard rocker that even quotes “Bomehian Rhapsody”.  How 1992!  Once again, Extreme comparisons are apt.  Slaughter too, especially vocally.  “Set Your Sails” is the “inspirational” track.  You always had to have one of those, didn’t you?  As such it’s upbeat and plenty good.  The tricky guitar solo reminds me of Richie Kotzen in style.

The CD ends with the jokey acoustic jam, “I Hate Workin'”.  It has that old Van Halen vibe of the “drunken party” in the background, and the singalong chorus.  Their hearts were the right place, but the song is a bit on the corny side.  Still, for a first CD?  Not bad at all.

After this the band released an EP called So This is Limbo and an album called Tangible Vibe.  These releases had a marked change of direction.  Guitar solos were chopped and songs shortened; as the 90’s progressed so they did, right into pop punk.  Both are pretty good releases, but we’ll have to look at them another time.  Deadline, the debut, scores a respectable:

3/5 stars

Incidentally, this CD will not rip on any machine.  No computer will play it, only an actual CD player.  I have had that problem with a few Canadian made CDs from the early 90’s.

From M.E.A.T Magazine

From M.E.A.T Magazine

67 comments

      1. Indeed they are Derek, and stay tuned because I’ll be posting a review of Raw M.E.A.T #3 in a few days. It had a new version of Friction Addiction on it, as you probably know!

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    4. Hi…this bad is SOOO real! I watched them relentlessly whenever they would show up in Kelowna to play at Iggy’s 🥰. I dated Tim, the lead vocalist ❣. I have been trying to find him???? I have pics of us….

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      2. I get a lot of emails asking me if I know where they are. I am just a fan. Nice to meet others who know Deadline! I played Donne Do Ya Wanna on my show last Friday!

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      1. No dude Cinderella didn’t work remember? It still had that staticky noise through it.

        No Mac will rip this, or Raw MEAT 3, or Cinderella without the noise. All three play fine on a normal CD player, which is weird.

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        1. Really? I don’t recall that… I thought that that had worked. Did you tell me it hadn’t, because I think I’d have felt bad for the failure? It’s weird. It plays here with no static. Hm. That means I’ll bring back the original to you when we go to Taranna! At least then you could play it!

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        2. Well you can keep the original, I have two copies. I bought another copy hoping the problem would have been confined to mine, but no luck.

          Yeah I told you that a little while after you burned it. Bummer. Still don’t understand the problem.

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        1. I have tried my sister’s Mac.

          Depends on the machine, what happens. It usually starts ripping but stalls without progress. Some CDs will rip, but then are so noisy they are unlistenable. Usually with Canadian made indy discs from 1990-1992.

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  3. Sorry I can’t help the skeptics, I don’t remember Deadline at all. But if they made the Power Hour, they must’ve been doing alright, right?!

    Donna (Do You Wanna) is such a promising song title, I love it.

    Also, this almost made me spit precious, precious morning coffee: “early 90’s Ugly Kid Funk Metal™” Bahaha!

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  5. This review reminds me of the slew of bands out here in SF during the late 80’s/early 90’s Totally riding the crest of the wave that included acts like Primus, Faith No More and RHCP. Bands like Psychefunkapus, Fungo Mungo, the Limbomaniacs and Mordred. Look em up.

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      2. Saw them supporting King’s X – they had Jason Everman (ex-Nirvana) in their ranks, although this was a year or two before we’d ever heard of Nevermind.

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  6. Hi Jay,
    If I can ever get this CD to successfully rip to mp3, I will be happy to oblige.

    I still haven’t been able to rip this. I have one CD player that will play the disc, but none of our computers will even read it.

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  7. Hey. I got up this morning, and after about 25 years, I wondered what ever happened to Shawn, Tim, Tom, and Paul. . . So I googled them and came across your review and band bio.

    For anyone who thinks this was not a real band, believe me, it was. I was a member of the band up until the first album was released. I was the sax player. Yes, they had a sax player. Shawn, Tom, Paul and I were in a bar band in the late ’80s called Mikey and the Mudcats. We toured the Southern Ontario bar scene on weekends, and toured much of the province in the summer of 1990. We were all students in the jazz program at Humber College, and we decided to move in together when school started up in the fall. Tim joined us, and we immediately started the band. All of us dropped out of college on Halloween day of 1990.

    We originally called the band “Mankind”, but ultimately ended up with Deadline. Donna – from the song “Donna Do You Wanna” – was about a girl I met in Dryden, Ontario while on the road with the Mudcats. I had a part in all of the tunes on that debut album; and like I said, I was rehearsing with the band right up until the recording. But when it came down to it, the band was going in a direction where the saxophone just wasn’t going to work. Originally, we kind of had that Extreme (Get The Funk Out) sound, with the sax playing riffs with the guitar. It was pretty cool, but it ultimately want where the band wanted to go. I left – the band and the house – in February of 1991.

    I had heard that the guys moved out west, but that was it. In the early ’90s there were no cell phones or email addresses, so we lost touch completely. I wonder what they’re doing now. If you’re ever in touch with them, please say hello for me. That was a good time in my life. Great guys, and fine musicians. Life goes by so fast. . .

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    1. WOW thanks so much for these stories! I had no idea they used sax at any point, but I can totally picture it in my head. It would have been pretty current. I would have enjoyed it!

      Your memory is incredible. Again, thanks for posting!

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  8. My pleasure, Mike. It is good to re-live your past now and then – to remind yourself of some of the cool and crazy experiences that you had. That was an interesting era. The guys from Gypsy Rose were at our house quite a bit. Lots of great stories . . . So much tequila. . . .

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      1. I don’t think I had a CD player until 1994, so my Gypsy Rose album is on cassette! It won’t rip into my computer either!

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  9. Such an amazing trip down memory lane…

    I took guitar lessons from Shawn Meehan back in the day as well as lessons from Craig from Gypsy Rose.

    Sarnia, Ontario was quite the rock and roll hotbed back then.

    Mike Ross from Gypsy Rose is still in town and writing and recording. I played guitar on a couple of his tracks on his recent release and will be doing so again on his new stuff.

    Deadline and teh guys from Gypsy were (and still are) extremely talented.

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    1. Sorry it has taken me so long to respond. My wife was sick when you posted this and I was taking a break.

      I need to get the Gypsy Rose album. It’s never been easy to find. I’ll check out the Discogs!

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