This was the debut solo album from the former GUIFFRIA singer. Guiffria, the air/hard rock band lead by former ANGEL keyboardist Gregg Guiffria released 2 albums in the 80s,, had a hit single with “Call To The Heart”, and opened for Deep Purple, and (later) Foreigner. But after the 2nd album Guiffria decided to rename the band, and change singers. Years ago, when Stranger From The Past came out in 2000, I interviewed David Glen Eisley (need to dig that out and re-post), and I played the heck out of this CD in my car, loved it!
Stranger From The Past featured a number of guests and strong supporting players, notably Craig Goldy on guitar (Dio), Ron Wikso on drums, and bass player Chuck Wright (Quiet Riot), though not all on every track. It began with the intro “The Stranger”, which leads right into the title track. There’s a good mix of good rockers like “Can’t Call It Love”, “Run Run Run”, and “Can’t Wait Forever”, as well as ballads “Don’t Turn Away”, and “Stranger In Love”. A solid album, that I still pull out from time to time.
Stranger was followed up a year later with The Lost Tapes, a collection of songs Eisley recorded with various projects prior to 2000. Strangely the tracklisting seems quite similar to the new Guiffria release (?) The Lost Tapes was a decent set of songs too, with standout anthems like “Stand Up” and “Are You Ready”, as well as “Lay Down Your Love” and “Slip Of The Tongue”.
Since then DGE has released a few solo albums, as well as a collaborative album with Craig Goldy, but nothing as memorable as Stranger From The Past (IMO). He did have a huge hit with with “Sweet Victory”, w/ the late Bob Kulick (the SpongeBob song!). The man’s also gone through personal issues to deal with (the passing of his wife late last year). Here’s hoping David finds his way back to creating new music in the future. Until then, look up this album (YouTube, Spotify, Apple).
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Outsider Rock 