Warrior
The rock band WARRIOR consists of Tad Donley, songwriter/Lead vocals/guitars – Mike Lazor, bass/vocals, David Gibson, keyboards/vocals, and John Sexton, drums – from Houston, Texas. These are amazing musicians acknowledge their destiny. They were put in this situation at this time for this purpose – this mission. The talents of these guys are incredible. They are the best at their field.
Warrior consists of these four Christians that move their music and lyrics up and down through the major pains and struggles of defeat to the highest realms that cannot be found on this earth – with the help of the man upstairs. Interweaved into this rollercoaster are songs about love, mortality, loss, fear, every emotion or reality we experience, and like Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, Tad believes that God is the one who woke him up at 3am countless mornings and gave him the songs. Tad would hash out the songs and work with God to get the final products.
WARRIOR originated in 2003, with the original lineup of Ken Pridgeon on lead vocals, Mike Goodnight on bass, and Keith Coleson on drums. Together they took on any venue, churches, festivals, bars, nightclubs – it didn’t matter – to help people. The band broke up after irreconcilable differences. Tad, determined to do what he believed God wanted him to do, took it upon himself to record the first WARRIOR CD, “The Battle Has Started.” Tad sang all vocals and played all instruments except the drums and also with the help of the keyboard genius work of Austin Biel (ten years in Benny Hinn Ministries). Tad and Willie Dewlin recorded and co-produced the CD.
What flourished would be any aspiring artist’s dream. The CD’s were released to all Christian rock internet stations and migrated to many secular and Christian FM stations nationwide. The CD peaked at #12 on the Christian Music Charts in 2004. The CD’s popularity spread throughout the world and is still consistently being sold everywhere – Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland, 3 websites in Russia, everywhere. Amazon UK sells the CD at 39 pounds. It is still helping countless people all over the world. You can find Tad Donley and WARRIOR music at Amazon.com, iTunes, CdBaby.com, Spotify, Napster, and all the others. Just google “Tad Donley.” There are over 75 music videos on YouTube. Just put in the search engine “Tad Donley.”
WARRIOR might not be as well-known as Led Zeppelin, but it’s formidable enough and their world-wide popularity is not to be taken lightly. The new WARRIOR is working up the songs, including many of Tad’s new songs. They are ready to embark once again to take on the world with the added mission to help homeless Vets, abused children/foster kids, lead people to the Lord. The new CD, “WARRIOR II” will be recorded soon. Micheal P. Stimentz – famous radio personality under the stage name of Tony Raven – donated $6000 of the best Neumann microphones to the cause. God opened the doors for Tad to acquire the Neumann KH-120 monitors, Pro Tools 10 and the rest of the resources to record it himself. Tad owned Pro Sound And Video Recording Studio for six years.
Tad is also well-known world-wide for being rudely woken-up by the Expert Village Production people to teach about Recording on videos. These videos went viral. Tad didn’t have his coffee in the morning and sluggishly went through the motions about recording techniques, equipment, etc. What happened is Tad, being himself, was unassumingly comical and very funny. Ask any recording studio aficionado. You can see the videos and other people’s takes on Tad’s notoriety on YouTube. One recorded all of Tad’s “uh” ‘s… Three guys created an animated rap song video about Tad’s “Got To Get The Boom.” Also you will find the rock band “Venus” (1987-1992) – Tad’s first pro band using his music with the greats or Mike Heinicke on lead vocals, Bart St. John Heaney on lead guitar/vocals, Joe Balls Muelinberger on Bass. Propelling each of them to fame in the Houston music scene. Venus was #1 in Houston. It was the drugs and alcohol that brought them down.
Tad remembers one time… “A guy from Britain called me out of nowhere and told me his teacher was using my videos to teach his class at his college. He asked me if I would make a video talking to the class for the last day. I got them to clap for their teacher. In the middle of the short video, I said, “Wait a minute.” And I just walked out of view on purpose. The class had to just sit there. Then I came back…”
Tad, at this time – September 29, 2016- has about 5 or 6 songs in his head for the new CD. He is gathering the exceptional talents of Vann, Mike, and David to create the best album Tad could possibly create. It’s going to be powerful, and many across the world will be surprised and happy to get this CD and come to see them when they tour world-wide.
To learn more about the mission that God has given to him and to the other members of the band and others God has put in his path to secure the mission’s success – it’s all happening right now. Not all songs are Christian, and God did that on purpose – to reach everyone. The pain when the other stops loving you, abortion, fun, when things go right, what it’s like to not know what’s going to happen next when God is in charge of your life, and much more. Rollercoaster!
It was an Amy Grant song -from her departure from just Christian to commercial – that God used to softened Tad’s heart toward looking for help from drug addiction. Read Tad’s Testimony. Like Amy Grant – not all songs were Christian, but they still all gave hope. Tad’ mission with the new CD is to do the same. To reach the lost and give them hope. Read more about the mission on this site.
A RECENT REVIEW OF THE ORIGINAL WARRIOR CD
This is a recent review from Jacob Folk, Costa Rica. from www.christianmoltenmetalbands.weebly.com. A lot of reviews are similar but display a bias one way or another in commentary form. This was presented as a hard news piece. Kudos to Jacob.
Warrior is a Classic Melodic Metal band who draws influence from the 80’s Metal scene in the veins of Black Sabbath, Ozzy, and Dokken. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that Warrior is a clone or exact copy of the aforementioned bands but there are some recognizable similarities present.
When looking to purchase a copy of Warrior’s debut, It’s obvious that they are not the only band with the same name. One shouldn’t confuse Warrior with their secular counterpart- who have four releases to date with one titled ‘The Code Of Life’, featuring Rob Rock on vocals.
With the band’s name and the band’s attire along with their lyrics that show their servitude, we can easily draw a connection to 2 Timothy 2:4 which states: “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.”
In 2004 Warrior released their independent debut full-length album titled ‘The Battle Has Started’. OK I admit, the album’s 
cover doesn’t look very original with the band members sporting Kiss like makeup. With that said, it’s interesting that way back in history we find that the ‘Picts’ were an early tribal confederation in Scotland who used to don their warriors in facial paint to put fear into the hearts of their enemies. This was alluded to with the release of the movie Braveheart with Mel Gibson donning the famous blue facial war paint. Maybe Warrior is trying to put fear into the enemy of darkness with their message of light and hope for all the world to hear.
Warrior might not get high marks for their cover art but they show a sense of humor in not taking themselves too seriously which is reflected in some of the band’s tunes as well. I’m reminded of an old saying – ‘you can’t judge a book by its cover’ which I believe applies here with Warrior’s debut release. One thing the cover art does do a good job of is letting us know the period and style of music that the band is performing which falls into the 80’s Metal realm.
With one listen of this release one will find that there’s a captivating electrifying energy in the arrangements throughout this disc that will lift one up and get you moving. This energy is found in every aspect from the Vocals to the Guitars to the Bass and Drums.
Lead Vocals are handled by frontman Tad Donley who delivers up a clean mid to upper-range delivery along with the hooks to keep one coming back for more. There are frequent moments where he sounds very similar to well known vocalist Ozzy Osbourne without drawing such a strong comparison as artist ‘David Benson’ is known for. Speaking of Vocals, there’s an interesting dynamic present throughout this release in the vocal harmonies found in the lead and backing vocals to where it reminds one of such bands like The Beach Boys.(Tad here… I have to interject – for Jacob to pick up the Beach Boys influence was amazing!!)
Guitars are handled by frontman Tad Donley and sounds as if there are two guitarist present due to a wonderful technique called overdubbing. Donley is no amateur when it comes to the axe which he wields with the skill of a well trained warrior. What we find here is Driving riffs, 80’s noodling, plenty of solos, Doom like guitar play all mixed together to produce a beautiful slab of Metal.
On this 2004 release, the skins are pounded by percussionist Keith Coleson. The drums play a big part for Warrior helping to capture that big Arena Rock sound that was so prevalent in the 80’s Metal scene. If I had to make a comparison to Coleson’s style of play I would have to say it’s similar to Mick Brown(Dokken).
The Bass is handled by Michael Goodnight who lays down some heavy bass lines adding the right injections of heaviness to this killer project.
The tune “I Want A Walmart Girl” was a big hit for the band as it tore up the radio and internet charts upon its release. With this tune, the band reflects some humor showing that not every tune has to be all out serious.
“I Want A Walmart Girl”
She’s Not Afraid To Go Out In A Black Miniskirt
But You’ll See Her Every Sunday In Her Favorite Church
She’s Nice And Normal, Sensible, And Down To Earth
She’s Not Afraid To Love, Even Though She’s Been Hurt
She Doesn’t Want Extravagance And Riches For Fun,
And I Know I Kind A Like Her
I Want A Walmart Girl
I Want A Walmart Girl
She Wants To Be Sexy, She Can Be Real Cool
She Grew Up In Her Town, And She’s Nobody’s Fool
She Really Loves Her People, And They Know Her Well
Once You Get To Know Her She Comes Out Of Her Shell
She Turned Around And Saw Me, And She Gave Me A Smile
I Can See It In Her Eyes..
I Want A Walmart Girl
I Want A Walmart Girl
While The Rest Of The World Is On A High-Crash Course
Trying To Get More Money – More Control Over Us
She Is Helping People – Wants It All To Slow Down
Trusting God To Help Her – She’s The Queen Of Her Town
I Want A Walmart Girl
I Want A Walmart Girl
Her Morning Is Her Coffee And Her Pickup Truck
The Life She Built Around Her Is What She Made Up
I Gotta Get A Tire For My Formula One
Maybe She Will Be There Working, Having Fun
She Turned Around And Saw Me, And She Gave Me A Smile
I Can See It In Her Eyes…
I Want A Walmart Girl
I Want A Walmart Girl
… all the way to the other spectrum…
RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW
ALWAYS DRAWING BACK – IT’S HARD TO LEARN
WHY CAN’T YOU GET A BREAK – IT’S ALWAYS SOMEONE ELSE’S TURN
THINK ABOUT THE LAST TIME WHEN YOU CRIED
YOU SEE THE BOAT IS LEAVING AND IT’S YOU WHO WAVES GOODBYE
RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW
YOU CAN SEE THE SMILE THAT IS SHOWN UPON GOD’S FACE
RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW
YOU CAN FEEL A LOVE THAT YOU NEVER CAN REPLACE
YOU WANT TO GET TO KNOW HIM, AND HE WANTS TO SHOW YOU HOW
I BELIEVE HE’S CALLING YOU – RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW
YOU COVER UP A HURT THAT’S DEEP INSIDE
YOU’VE GOT TO TURN YOUR HEAD COS YOU CAN’T SEE IT’S YOU WHO DIED
DON’T YOU THINK IT’S TIME TO STOP THE LIE
GIVE IT UP – SURRENDER AND LAY DOWN YOUR FOOLISH PRIDE
RIGHT HERE…
TAKE CARE OF YOU – MAKE YOU FEEL SAFE AND WARM
GOD MADE THE SKIES AND THE SEAS
YOU NEED HIS TRUST – HE WILL KEEP YOU FROM HARM
EVEN A SINNER LIKE ME
THE BIBLE SAYS IT’S TRUE THAT HE LOVES YOU
ENOUGH TO SEND HIS SON TO DIE AND LIVE – HE’S COMING SOON
THE LOSER WANTS TO KEEP YOU FROM THE LIGHT
YOU’VE TRIED YOUR BEST TO RUN FROM THE PURE LOVE THAT GAVE YOU LIFE
RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW
YOU CAN SEE THE SMILE THAT’S SHOWN ON GOD’S FACE
RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW
YOU CAN FEEL A LOVE THAT YOU NEVER CAN REPLACE
YOU WANT TO GET TO KNOW HIM
AND HE WANTS TO SHOW YOU HOW
I BELIEVE HE’S CALLING YOU RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW
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