California glam rockers L.A. GUNS, featuring singer Phil Lewis and guitarist Tracii Guns, has released the official music video for a new song called “Diamonds”. The track is taken from the band’s upcoming studio album, “Black Diamonds”, which will arrive on April 14. Produced by founding member and guitarist, Tracii Guns, “Black Diamonds” is a tour-de-force of rock ‘n roll that fans have come to expect from the long-running hard rockers. Watch the video below.
This will be the fourth studio album since the much-welcome reunion of the band’s core foundation of Lewis and Guns. It will follow the well-received studio albums “The Missing Peace”, “The Devil You Know” and “Checkered Past”, plus the live release “Made In Milan”, and a covers EP “Another Xmas In Hell”.
Pre-order “Black Diamonds” HERE.
Written and recorded over the course of 2022, “Black Diamonds” sees Tracii Guns, Phil Lewis and company continuing on the same successful and inspiring sonic journey that they’ve been taking on their most recent albums, “The Missing Peace”, “The Devil You Know” and “Checkered Past”. The band doesn’t shy away from flexing their hard rock influences as they always have, but also incorporate more introspective acoustic tracks reflective of their classic rock influences from the ’70s. This makes for a potent and highly listenable c**ktail of an album in “Black Diamonds”.
Since their self-titled debut in 1988 to their widely praised recent suite of “comeback” albums, L.A. GUNS, led by Tracii Guns and Phil Lewis, have always delivered solid rock ‘n roll to their fans. Since core members Tracii and Phil reunited under the banner of L.A. GUNS in 2017, a rekindling of the band’s creative energy has been continuing unabated over the course of, now, four studio albums. “Black Diamonds” shows no signs of this renaissance slowing down…
“Black Diamonds” Album Artwork
“Black Diamonds” track listing:
1. You Betray
2. Wrong About You
3. Diamonds
4. Babylon
5. Shame
6. Shattered Glass
7. Gonna Lose
8. Got It Wrong
9. Lowlife
10. Crying
11. Like A Drug
L.A. GUNS are:
- Phil Lewis / Vocals
- Tracii Guns / Electric & Acoustic Guitars, Mellotron
- Ace Von Johnson / Electric Guitars
- Johnny Martin / Bass, Electric Electric Guitars
- Shawn Duncan / Drums (live)
- Adam Hamilton / Drums (studio) & Strings
L.A. GUNS never looked like the pretty poster boys that so many of their peers did, but more the band that you would be terrified to bump into in an alley as they would likely be carrying switchblades and ready for a fight. But despite having many songs to back up that image, the band could also write powerful ballads (see the smash hit, “The Ballad Of Jayne” for Exhibit A of this argument) that showed there were some serious songwriting chops in the band. The story of how we got from the band’s powerful early years to a fourth new studio album in the relatively short time that Guns and Lewis have reunited has already been well documented, so no need to rehash it.
What’s important to know and understand is that the driving force of all those classic L.A. GUNS songs was Tracii and Phil. Feeling inspired and excited like they did when they first started out, but with many years of wisdom and experience under their belts, and most importantly, a renewed and stronger creative and personal relationship, Guns, Lewis, and L.A. GUNS as a whole are at a creative peak.
L.A. GUNS was formed in 1983 and have sold over six million records, including 1988’s “L.A. Guns” and 1990’s “Cocked And Loaded”, both of which were certified gold. “Cocked And Loaded” contained the hit single “The Ballad Of Jayne” that went to No. 33 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 and No. 25 on the Mainstream Rock charts. From the mid-’90s to the mid 2000s, L.A. GUNS continued to tour and release new music. Following their successful performance at SiriusXM‘s Hair Nation festival in September 2016, L.A. GUNS went into the studio to record the critically acclaimed “The Missing Peace”, which was the highest-selling release for Frontiers Music Srl in 2017. Their 12th album, “The Devil You Know”, was released in 2019 to the same critical acclaim. Since reuniting, Tracii and Phil continue to tour around the world with L.A. GUNS, which currently includes Johnny Martin (bass) and Ace Von Johnson (guitar).
