One of the best albums of the 1990s was a (sadly) unknown disc, the debut album from T-Ride. They’re a strange group — I liken them to a perfect melding of Queen and Van Halen with a heavy power groove. It’s the anti-guitar solo guitar hero album, a reimagining of heavy pop rock for the 21st century. Geoff Tyson, the guitarist (who later went on to play with another band deserving of far more recognition than they ever got, Snake River Conspiracy), said in an interview that he always felt the album would have been huge in the late ’80s, in the Def Leppard era, and I’m inclined to agree, except that I think that the music is still more than what most people in the radiovideo world are capable of simple processing.

I was fortunate enough, through small-world circumstances, to meet a girl named Terry in the fall of ’96. She was a crush of mine, Terry — who also, somehow, had just come to Birmingham after spending some time in California, some of which was with one Geoff Tyson. I don’t know what happened to Terry — would love to, now that I think about it — but I do still have the strange proof that this random girl I knew for only a few weeks had spent time with a random guitarist that is still sadly unknown — a demo tape from Geoff’s studio. There’s nothing on the label outside of a handwritten date and Geoff’s initials, but on the cassette (which I transferred to CD as soon as I had the chance, in the summer of ’97) are 20 unreleased tracks, rough and sometimes unproduced, but brilliant.

I think it’s possibly one of my greatest treasures. Imagine finding a one of a kind manuscript by your favorite author, or a demo of a movie that was later discarded by your favorite director — something unique (or might as well be, as for availability) that you just happened to find… It’s things like this (and the sheer number of them) that have happened to me across life that lead me to believe that you either have to accept the existence of synchronicity or fate.

I did a little surfing to find out what Geoff’s up to these days, and found that he’s been working with a new project for about 2 years or so now. Stimulator is — well, they’re interesting. Very 80s new-wave pop with a light sheen of industrial darkness. It’s like, I don’t know — what if Garbage did the soundtrack to Blade Runner? You can check out samples and download the entire debut disc here (seriously, you have to listen, if nothing else, to track eight, their cover of Olivia Newton-John’s MAGIC, originally heard in — anyone? — Xanadu, which also featured the brilliant work of Electric Light Orchestra). I hear rumors that there’s a second Stimulator album on its way soon, too…

I feel like I’m time travelling today. Not in that drank too much and woke up three days in the future way, although not entirely dissimilar, now that I think of it… But damned if MAGIC isn’t the perfect song for this feeling.