Kiss of the Gypsy emerged as an English hard rock quintet featuring vocalist Tony Mitchell, guitarist Darren Rice, keyboardist George Williams, bassist Martin Talbot, and drummer Scott Elliott. Though assembled in the late 1980s, the band issued its self-titled debut only in 1992, arriving barely twelve months after Nirvana dismantled the prevailing glam scene. The record’s melodic hard rock approach, laced with blues-inflected touches and burnished by a refined post-AOR gloss, displayed greater depth than the majority of formulaic releases then emanating from Los Angeles. Producer Barriemore Barlow, formerly of Jethro Tull, oversaw the sessions, yet the group’s momentum collapsed almost immediately after launch. Even so, Kiss of the Gypsy continue to be recalled with noticeably more regard than most of their poodle-haired, guitar-driven contemporaries from that period.
