XYZ

L

os Angeles French-American heavy metal band XYZ led by vocalist Terry Ilous and Patt Fontaine (bass) actually started in Lyon, France, where the men were born and grew up. In 1984 they moved to Los Angeles, California and started off as the unofficial house band of The Whisky A Go Go nightclub.

Joined by Marc Richard Diglio (guitar) and Paul Monroe (drums) they originally played in a blues based style but the sound evolved in the studio with the help of Don Dokken's production into an almost replica of his own band's style with Illous sounding much like Dokken himself. But despite the obvious attempt at cloning, XYZ produced quality songs in their own merit leading to a reasonably successful self-titled debut in 1989, especially after the support tour of the USA. with Enuff Z' Nuff and Alice Cooper. 'Capitol Records' signed them for the follow-up Hungry (1991). With George Turko's production the band established a heavier sound but featuring more blues especially with a cover of Free's Fire And Water on this latest album. The band, however, was a commercial failure over-all and eventually broke up. The act reunited in 2008 with the lineup of Ilous, Fontaine, Tony Marcus, and Shapiro.