Winger disbanded in 1994. In 2001 they reunited and have since conducted several successful tours. In 2006, the band's 1993 touring line-up (minus Paul Taylor but including John Roth) reunited to record the band's first studio album in over 13 years, IV, and toured in support of the album into 2008.
In 2009, the band released their fifth album, Karma. As of 2013, Winger was performing on mini-tours, festivals and private events. Their most recent album, Better Days Comin', came out in 2014.
History:
Main career and break-up (1987–1994).
The debut album, Winger, was released on August 10, 1988 on Atlantic Records. The record was a success, achieving platinum status in the United States, and gold status in Japan and Canada. On February 11, 1989, the album peaked at number 21 on the Billboard 200, and was in various places on the chart for 63 weeks. Radio and MTV hits from the album included "Madalaine", "Seventeen", "Headed for a Heartbreak" and "Hungry". In 1990, the band was nominated for an American Music Award for "Best New Heavy Metal Band".
Shortly after that tour, Winger released its second album In the Heart of the Young, which went 1-and-1/2 platinum in the U.S. and gold in Japan. Hit radio tracks and MTV videos included "Can't Get Enuff", "Miles Away" and "Easy Come Easy Go".
Winger followed the release of its second album with a 13-month world tour, playing over 230 dates with Kiss, Scorpions, ZZ Top, Extreme and Slaughter. Paul Taylor left the band after the tour, citing exhaustion after years of touring. Their third studio album, Pull, produced by Mike Shipley, was recorded in 1992/1993 as a three-piece band. It was originally to be called Blind Revolution Mad, after the opening song. Reportedly, Kip Winger, anticipating that critics would dismiss the album out of hand, renamed it Pull as a tongue-in-cheek reference to the CD being used by critics as a skeet-shooting target. The album was not as successful as the previous albums sales wise, but gained solid reviews. On the following tour, John Roth was called in to replace Paul Taylor on rhythm guitar. The album coincided with the rise of grunge, which swept aside the brand of melodic pop metal that Winger represented.
In the 1990s, Winger was subject to mockery from MTV's animated series Beavis and Butt-head. Series creator Mike Judge later revealed that he had been incorrectly informed that Kip Winger had asked the network not to make jokes about the band on the series, which led to further jokes about the band, but later learned from Winger himself that he had never made any such stipulation. “Stewart”, an early character from the TV show, wore a Winger t-shirt during the shows original run on MTV during the early 90s.
After disbanding in 1994, bassist/lead vocalist Kip Winger went on to a solo career, guitarist Reb Beach went on to touring projects with artists Dokken, Alice Cooper and has held a permanent guitar spot in Whitesnake since 2002. The band's other members pursued or resumed careers as session musicians.
Reunions (2001–present)
In 2001, it was announced that all original members of the band would return to the studio to record the song "On the Inside" for The Very Best of Winger. In 2002, all five members embarked on a reunion tour of the U.S. and Canada on a bill with Poison. According to Kip Winger, in a 2008 interview with rock and roll comic C.C. Banana, it was important to include all five members because "it was the big, long-awaited reunion so I wanted to include everybody who had ever been in the band." In 2003, it was confirmed that activity had been halted due to Reb Beach's touring commitment with Whitesnake as well as his solo album "Masquerade" and involvement with "super-group" project The Mob with King's X frontman Doug Pinnick and Night Ranger drummer Kelly Keagy.
On July 16, 2005, it was announced that Kip Winger would perform as the lead singer for the Alan Parsons Live Project at the Common Ground Music Festival in Lansing, Michigan. In May 2006, it was confirmed that Winger had reformed without one of its original members Paul Taylor, to record another album and tour Europe. The album, IV, was released in Europe in October and the nine-country "Winger IV Tour" ran in the last two weeks of the same month.
On February 25, 2008, the band performed in Providence, Rhode Island, as part of a benefit for survivors of the Station nightclub fire. The concert, along with other artists was debuted on VH1 Classic on March 23, 2008. In late 2009, it was confirmed that Winger would record a fifth album Karma, with a tour to support it. Most recently, John Roth became the guitarist for Giant and would appear on their forthcoming album Promise Land then set for release in February/March of 2010.
Winger released their sixth studio album titled, Better Days Comin' in April 2014, after teasers were published on Kip Winger's website and on the official Winger Facebook page as well.
As of late 2018, Winger was playing club dates. They were scheduled on Dec 29, 2018 in Westland, Michigan.
Style and influences.
The band's musical style combines elements of glam metal and progressive metal. Kip Winger, in description of the band's musical ability and style, said, "Our band was known to musicians, and a lot of musicians showed up to see me play — watching, trying to figure out how I'm playing. We were like the 'hair band' (version of) Dream Theater."
Blind Revolution Mad
Winger Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Little boy brave
Charity heart
Faithfully plays
Heal the scars
Unto his eyes
Salvage the goodness
Of dreams never lived
Again and again
Again and again
Haunted by the trust of a child
With no place to go now
Little boy brave
Wanders the streets
Faithfully plays
But his broken arrows
Once filled with pride
Aimed and missed
At the dreams never lived
Dreams never died
Again and again
Again and again
Haunted by the trust of a child
Never give in
Never give up
Little boy brave
Never lived
Never died
Appears to be
Blind Revolution Mad
The mercy ends
Where the mercy began
Seems justified
I'm turnin' this around
Jawbreaker Lawmaker
Have it your way
Campaign smokescreen
Glorifies the mainstream
Cities on remote control
Meanwhile vigilante gangs
Dig their fangs into the streets
They've overthrown
While plastic faces
Run for king of this
Disassociation land
I'm dying to find
Anyone who understands
Behold........
One more Blind Revolution Mad
One more chance of a lifetime
Rage runs rampant
Always been abandoned
Killin' for some pocket change
Blames being force fed rules
Governed by fools
Slammin' you against the grain
And the nation's glued to CNN
To watch their own creation
Behold
One more Blind Revolution Mad
One more chance of a lifetime
One more Blind Revolution Mad
Fee Fi Fo Fum
One for all and all for one
Don't try to stop me
I've already gone crazy
One for all and all for one
Overthrow your kingdom come
Don't try to stop me
You're the reason I'm crazy
Behold
One more Blind Revolution Mad
One more chance of a lifetime
One more Blind Revolution Mad
Mind in the gutter turned another boy bad
Oh behold
One more Blind Revolution Mad
One more chance of a lifetime
One more Blind Revolution Mad
Winger's song "Blind Revolution Mad" contains commentary on the state of society, particularly in the United States. The lyrics describe a world where people have been abandoned and left to fend for themselves. In the first verse, we are introduced to "little boy brave," who wanders the streets with a "charity heart" and "faithfully plays" in an attempt to heal the scars of society. However, his efforts are sometimes in vain, as the "dreams never lived" and "dreams never died" haunt him repeatedly. The second verse tells of vigilante gangs and "plastic faces" vying for power, while the chorus declares the people have become "blind revolution mad."
The song specifically critiques the political system of the United States, encouraging listeners to take matters into their own hands rather than relying on corrupt politicians. The line "Jawbreaker Lawmaker/Have it your way/Campaign smokescreen/Glorifies the mainstream" suggests that politicians are more interested in their own agendas than actually helping people. The chorus calls for a revolution, but it is unclear what form this revolution should take. The lyrics seem to suggest that the revolution must come from within—the people cannot rely on anyone else to fix their problems.
Line by Line Meaning
Into this world
The story begins in this world
Little boy brave
A child who is brave
Charity heart
He has a heart full of love and kindness
Faithfully plays
He plays with dedication and devotion
Heal the scars
He is trying to heal the emotional scars of others
Unto his eyes
Through his gaze
Salvage the goodness
He tries to salvage the good in people
Of dreams never lived
Of unfulfilled dreams
Dreams never died
Despite not being fulfilled, they are still alive in the minds of people
Again and again
Repeatedly
Haunted by the trust of a child
He is troubled by how much he trusted others as a child
With no place to go now
He has nowhere left to go
Wanders the streets
He wanders aimlessly on the streets
But his broken arrows
His attempts at making things better were unsuccessful
Once filled with pride
He was once proud of his efforts
Aimed and missed
However, he failed to achieve his goals
At the dreams never lived
At the unfulfilled dreams of others
Haunted by the trust of a child
He is still troubled by the amount of trust he had as a child
Never give in
He refuses to give up
Never give up
He refuses to give up
Little boy brave
He remains brave like a child
Never lived
He has never really lived
Never died
He has never really died
Appears to be
He seems to be
Blind Revolution Mad
He seems to be blindly passionate about a revolution, but also somewhat crazy or misguided
The mercy ends
There is no more mercy
Where the mercy began
The mercy stopped at a certain point
Seems justified
It seems to be justified, but is it really?
I'm turnin' this around
He wants to change things
Jawbreaker Lawmaker
Those in power are enforcing their laws with force
Have it your way
They are doing things their way
Campaign smokescreen
Political campaigns are just a cover-up
Glorifies the mainstream
The mainstream is glorified, even though it may not deserve it
Cities on remote control
Cities are being controlled from afar
Meanwhile vigilante gangs
At the same time, vigilante groups are taking justice into their own hands
Dig their fangs into the streets
They are fighting hard for their cause
They've overthrown
They have succeeded in overthrowing the old order
While plastic faces
Fake people with fake emotions
Run for king of this
Are trying to become the new leaders
Disassociation land
A land of disconnected people
I'm dying to find
He is desperate to find
Anyone who understands
Someone who understands him
Behold........
Take a look at what is happening
One more Blind Revolution Mad
He feels like there will be more misguided, passionate revolutions in the future
One more chance of a lifetime
Another chance to make a difference, even if it may not be successful
Rage runs rampant
There is a lot of anger and violence
Always been abandoned
He has always been left alone
Killin' for some pocket change
People are willing to kill for money, no matter how small the amount
Blames being force fed rules
People blame the government for imposing too many rules on them
Governed by fools
The government is made up of foolish people
Slammin' you against the grain
He is going against the norm and fighting for what he believes is right
And the nation's glued to CNN
Everyone is glued to the news, but are they really paying attention?
To watch their own creation
Watching the things they created themselves
Mind in the gutter turned another boy bad
A boy with a rough upbringing turned into a bad person
Fee Fi Fo Fum
A reference to the giant in the Jack and the Beanstalk story
One for all and all for one
Everyone should support each other
Don't try to stop me
He is determined to do things his way
I've already gone crazy
He has already lost his mind to the cause
Overthrow your kingdom come
He wants to overthrow the current power structure and create a new one
You're the reason I'm crazy
He blames others for driving him to madness
Behold
Take a look
One more Blind Revolution Mad
He predicts more misguided revolutions in the future
One more chance of a lifetime
Another opportunity to make a difference
One more Blind Revolution Mad
Another revolution that lacks foresight and understanding
Mind in the gutter turned another boy bad
A troubled childhood leading to bad behavior and poor decisions
Oh behold
Take a look at what's happening
One more Blind Revolution Mad
Another misguided revolution that lacks direction
One more chance of a lifetime
Another chance to make a difference
One more Blind Revolution Mad
Another revolution that lacks understanding about the consequences of their actions
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: CHARLES WINGER, RICHARD E BEACH JR
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind