1970 to 1974

Not one of the most successful in terms of record sales, nevertheless ANGEL are recognized as being one of the most influential seventies Hard Rock bands. ANGEL were unfortunate enough to have constantly lived in the deep shadow of their more esteemed label mates KISS, despite developing from a gargantuan Pomp Rock dream into an androgynous looking, slick Pop Metal product.

The seeds of ANGEL were undeniably sown the day the mother of a nine year old punk called Edwin Lionel Meadows was given a sound beating by his mother for having sneaked out of the family home against her wishes to go to see an ELVIS PRESLEY movie. But Rock n' Roll had bitten the kid family and friends knew as Punky and it wasn't long before this Maryland native had begun his own ascent to stardom by taking up the guitar and winding up in Washington DC's hip young things THE ENGLISH SETTERS. A band very much influenced by the imported sounds of mid-Sixties BritPop and the Carnaby Street fashions that evolved with them - all flower power make-up and John Lennon granny glasses.

Changing their monicker to the more acidic THE CHERRY PEOPLE, Meadows and his band mates found themselves signed to Heritage Records and the owners of a rather manufactured, eponymously titled debut album.

Regardless, the band scored a bona fide hit single with 'Imagination' hitting number 45 on the national charts and 'Feelings' scraping in the Billboard rankings at number 134. Only two of the songs featured on the record were penned by band members and neither one featured a credit to Meadows. Perhaps contributing to Punky's relatively short stay in the ranks and his subsequent departure in order to team up with a Jazz influenced keyboard player from New Orleans by the name of Greg Giuffria.

Meadows' liaison with Giuffria was short-lived, however. Seemingly Punky liked Greg but hated the group!

Now in the early Seventies, Meadows teamed up with Washington DC native Mickey Jones to form DADDY WARBUCKS (said to be taken from the character in the hit musical 'Annie'), which was shortened soon after to the much easier to remember handle of BUX. The line-up also featured ex- CHERRY PEOPLE drummer Rocky Issac, James Newton on guitar and the gravel throated Ralph Morman on vocals.

BUX soon became one of DC's biggest drawing attractions on the local club scene and competed heavily with the still buoyant THE CHERRY PEOPLE, attracting the attention of the mighty Capitol label to whom they signed and recorded an album, 'We Come To Play' in 1973. The album would remain unreleased until 1976, however, long after Meadows and Jones had quit the band, clearly unhappy at Capitol's lack of faith in BUX and seemingly irritated by their management and Ralph Morman's alleged alcoholism. The vocalist would, in later years, team up with wayward AEROSMITH guitarist Joe Perry to sing on the first JOE PERRY PROJECT album, fronted the Malibu club band CHAMELEON and, in the late Eighties, find himself fronting veteran English Blues Rockers SAVOY BROWN.

Intent on putting a much more substantial package together, Meadows teamed up with Giuffria once more and, with Jones in tow, set to work looking for a suitable vocalist and drummer to complete this new dream team.

Since his previous liaison with Meadows, Giuffria had also had dealings with Capitol Records through his tenure with DAVID AND THE GIANTS. Rumours have always persisted that Giuffria recorded an album and a few singles with this outfit and that the band had also featured the legendary Tommy Aldridge on drums, but the skinbasher claims to have never worked with Giuffria until much, much later in his illustrious career.

of the first vocalists Meadows and Co auditioned for their new project was Boston born Frank Dimino, but he is often reported to have turned down the chance to join this fledgling new group on the basis that they only had: "three half-assed songs". Another candidate at this juncture was Eric Saeger of DESTONY.

Continuing the search for a frontman following Dimino's rebuff, the trio found themselves in a bar one night to check out someone's recommendation they chance upon an extremely impressive drummer who wiped the floor with the guy they were rehearsing with at the time. And, as irony would have it, Punky and Mickey knew him!

Barry Brandt had never played with Meadows previously (although he had played drums for THE CHERRY PEOPLE following Punky's departure), but had been a part of Jones' pre-BUX mob MAX.

prove just how incestuous the DC club circuit was at the time, MAX had also boasted the talents of Frank Dimino who, upon discovering Brandt's recruitment, quickly pledged allegiance to the cause.

 

Initially utilizing SWEET MAMA FROM HEAVEN as their handle, the enterprising quintet soon adopted ANGEL as a band name, inspired by the JIMI HENDRIX number of the same title.

1975 to 1976

Whilst ANGEL started to build up a following in club land word reached New York based managerial giants Leber / Krebs of the latent talent involved. Far from wanting to snap up ANGEL to add to their roster, they merely attempted to lure Meadows and Jones into a revamped version of the NEW YORK DOLLS. Naturally the duo, highly amused by the offer, got on with the job of pushing ANGEL to the forefront of the Washington DC club scene.

The hard work paid off one fateful night in 1975 when, having spent a good deal of time and money arranging a massive showcase gig at a club called Bogeys, where many of the influential people in the A&R and management worlds were expected to be in attendance. KISS' Gene Simmons, having played a show in nearby Landover, Maryland, caught ANGEL's set. Legend has it that Simmons called Neil Bogart, the president of Casablanca Records (KISS' label) at 3am insisting that he sign the group.

Bogart, eventually, did do just that and had them showcase in New York where they caught the attention of manager David Joseph. Joseph's Toby Management would later briefly handle the affairs of LEGS DIAMOND and the original incarnation of QUIET RIOT in addition to ANGEL.

With record and management deals secured ANGEL set to work on their debut album. Moving to Hollywood, the five-piece were placed in the charge of Derek Lawrence and seasoned session guitarist Big Jim Sullivan who were engaged by Casablanca to produce the record at Wally Heider's studios in the heart of tinseltown.

The results emerged in the form of 'Angel', released in October 1975, an album generally regarded by many admirers as ANGEL' a best work and containing long-time live set opener 'Tower'.

out their stall ANGEL concentrated on lovingly crafted tales of knights and lonely maidens. However, the poppy 'Rock And Rollers' trod a path into the land of the throwaway Pop Rock anthem, a direction the band would head more towards in later years.

1976 found Angel on tour and in receipt of a make over at the expense of Casablanca whose image-makers developed the suitably angelic 'all white' look that would become the band's trademark. This was unveiled to the world on the cover of the quickly recorded second album, 'Helluva Band', again produced by Lawrence and Sullivan.

A weightier affair than the debut, 'Helluva Band' and the touring that ensued earned ANGEL Best New Group of the year in the influential American Rock magazine Circus' readers poll ahead of HEART and BOSTON. Considering the enormous success of BOSTON's debut album that year, ANGEL had certainly made a very big impression on the American youth. Casablanca expected to reap huge rewards from increased popularity in 1977.

 

Engaging Eddie Kramer, whose work on KISS' 'Alive!' album had upped his and KISS' market values, to produce the third ANGEL album, Casablanca pumped an enormous amount of money into the whole concept and a great deal of it went towards the band's live show.

1977

'On Earth As It Is In Heaven', the first album to feature the amazing new band logo originally conceived by Bob Petrick with which the band name could be read upside down as well as in the normal manner, found ANGEL in musical transition. Escaping the confines of the almost dungeons & dragons imagery in order to pave their way into the public's hearts with a poppier

The expected increase in sales failed to materialize, despite the quintet taking out a stage show rivaled only by label mates KISS.

Capitalizing on the white imagery, not only were Angel's stage costumes the colour of purity, but the majority of their equipment soon turned a brighter shade of pale. They even employed a guy called Whitey to drive the truck!

In order to create a stage show which would be unique and remain memorable, a lot of money was spent on developing a show intended to give concert goers a great deal to talk about and intent on seeing again. To this end one of America's leading illusionists, Johnny Gaughn, was hired to create something a bit special.

At the beginning of each show the band's crew would stack plexi-glass boxes on top of each other. This formed five separate cases from which each member of the band would miraculously appear from seemingly from out of nowhere upon introduction during an outrageously overblown Cecil B. DeMille opening. ANGEL's intro centered upon the Archangel Gabriel summoning his angels unto him and urging them all to go to Earth to bring forth the music of Heaven.

the end of the show band members would then step into a rising curtain and 'disappear' until the next performance.

By mid-1977 all was not well in the camp, however. Having encountered problems with Mickey Jones during the recording of 'On Earth..', the bassist's tenure with ANGEL was all but over following their return from a short but extremely successful tour of Japan ( the only occasion ANGEL ever toured outside of North America). He was soon replaced by St. Louis born Frederick 'Felix' Robinson, found by Greg Giuffria playing in a band called THE WORD in Northern California and a man who, according to the keyboardist, could play any song on any instrument you chose to give him.

Mickey Jones, in the meantime, took out a lawsuit against the band as a result of his sacking. He promptly formed a new band, EMPIRE, with drummer Stephen Riley (ex- ROADMASTER), guitarist Micki Free (ex- SMOKEHOUSE) and Pete Valentino (better known in later years as sometime CHEAP TRICK bassist Pete Comita).

Riley, a native of the Mid-West, had played on ROADMASTER's self-titled debut album before allegedly getting a call from ANGEL to replace Barry Brandt although this proposed union never materialized. He was later to find fame and fortune drumming with THE B'ZZ, W.A.S.P. and L.A. GUNS.

With Robinson comfortably in tow, ANGEL toured the States virtually non-stop through the remainder of 1977, only taking a break in October of that year to begin work on fourth album 'White Hot'. The band had yet to achieve in terms of sales, but Casablanca were still pushing the money forward as the group began to build a small, cult teen following thanks to publications like 16 Magazine taking a keen interest in the 'prettiest band in the world'.

The true meaning of the word 'Angel' is defined as 'a divine messenger of neither one nor the other sex'. And this was exactly the look ANGEL were portraying more and more. Top fashion designers were hired to clothe the band in their wildest costumes yet, Punky Meadows even secured an endorsement deal from an American hairspray company in order that the greatest hair-do in Rock always looked at its best!

A fan club, the 'Angel Earth Force', was also created, taking its inspiration from KISS' legendary 'Kiss Army'.

'White Hot' found ANGEL had morphed into a completely new direction, the songs boasting a distinctly Bubblegum bent and extremely commercial in approach from even the transitional 'On Earth..' album.

Produced by Eddie Leonetti, 'White Hot' glistened with West Coast sass and band members have long since admitted that it was a direction that they were almost forced into by Casablanca in a desperate attempt to recoup the money the label had pushed into the group.

1978 to 1979

Released in January 1978, 'White Hot' was preceded by the 'Winter Song' single, a blatant attempt to cash in on the Christmas market of 1977.

Recorded with the aid of the California Boys Choir, the song was a gem of slush proportions, earning ANGEL a coveted appearance on the 'American Bandstand' TV show and, whilst failing to provide them with a hit Stateside, achieved a good deal of success in Germany and Japan. In the run up to Christmas radio stations were furnished with a promotion single featuring a re-titled version of the number, 'The Christmas Song', featuring suitably re-recorded lyrics.

Staying out on the road virtually the whole year it became only too obvious that ANGEL's forte was live work and it was quite hard to figure out how they could be so popular live yet sell so few records.

Sales of 'White Hot', despite the single 'Ain't Gonna Tear My Heart Out Again' giving them their highest charting single at number 44, were extremely disappointing. A proposed live album was mooted, probably in keeping with the idea already proven with KISS, their debut live effort catapulting them from the cult status were undoubtedly ANGEL now found themselves languishing, to megastardom. For the time being however, the idea was shelved.

The band took time out to involve themselves in the teen flick 'Foxes' starring Jodie Foster, Scott Baio (of 'Happy Days' fame) and ex RUNAWAYS vocalist CHERIE CURRIE. ANGEL were to have a greater role in the film, but most of the scenes involving the band were left on the cutting room floor, although there is a brief in concert sequence where the quintet play the track and English actor Adam Faith is cast as their manager.

Filming took place at the end of 1978 and the studio version of '20th Century Foxes' and the previously unreleased 'Virginia' were placed on the official soundtrack album for the movie, naturally released by Casablanca, which mostly features a host of the labels disco artists. In fact, '20th Century Foxes' was ANGEL's attempt at trying to get a slice of the disco market for themselves and, rather interestingly, tends to pre-date KISS' 'I Was Made For Loving You' by about six months.

had, in 1978, actually worked on their own movie titled 'ANGEL Live At Midnight' the project was shelved. Despite Giuffria's attempts to locate it some ten years later the film remains unreleased.

By the end of the '78 tour the group had begun to include a healthy percentage of new songs in the set, including 'L.A. Lady', 'Bad Time' and 'Wild And Hot' as ANGEL began to weed out the old classics, reportedly sick of the fanciful lyricism.

The band had also grown tired of the virginal stage attire and goody two shoes image too, as reflected in the original title and album cover of their fifth studio record. 'Bad Publicity' depicted the five band members in regular 'street clothes' being busted by a Police Officer during a Hyatt hotel room card game surrounded by women and booze. The back cover featured some of the less favourable reviews garnered by the band in the past year!

A limited number of albums were issued to radio stations and other media outlets prior to its imminent release in the spring of 1979 before Casablanca president Neil Bogart and vetoed it. Ordering that all copies of the album be recalled and destroyed he decreed that 'Bad Publicity' was most certainly bad for ANGEL and ensured that the cover was reshot and the album re-titled to the mischievous, but less damaging 'Sinful'.

all copies of the 'Bad Publicity' cover were destroyed, enough exist to make more than a few ANGEL fanatics very happy to own an example. In the rush to get the revamped album into the stores initial pressings of the 'Sinful' album still had 'Bad Publicity' stickers on the vinyl itself.

 

Highly praised by critics, 'Sinful' was unfortunate enough to have been released at the same time as KISS' 'Dynasty' album and, hardly surprisingly, failed to shift anything like the units enjoyed by their ever powerful label mates.

1980

In early 1980 Neil Bogart sold Casablanca to PolyGram. According to their contract, ANGEL owed the label one more album. Rather than unleash another studio affair, especially now that Casablanca was under new ownership, the quintet elected to polish off the live recordings of 1978 vintage and put out a fan pleasing double live package.

'Live Without A Net', the record marries two shows recorded in Long Beach and in Los Angeles. Musically impressive - there's plenty of Meadows and Giuffria's trademark guitar and keyboards dogfighting to be found - the album suffers from being far too overdubbed and edited, especially when the album is put up against several live tapes recorded in the same period. One bootleg ended up released as a sought after double CD bootleg, 'Blowing Great Guns', in 1990.

Several of the live tapes also feature the band's over the top biblical intro tape, which is missing from 'Live Without A Net'. Oddly, the live intro features as the only live track on a Casablanca promo album issued to radio in 1978 misleadingly titled 'Radio Concert' and consisting of the standard studio versions of the majority of songs later featured on the live package. 'Live Without A Net' also features a live version of '20th Century Foxes', recorded at The Shrine in Los Angeles during filming for the motion picture 'Foxes'.

Following the release of 'Live Without A Net', ANGEL took the decision to split with Toby Management. They hooked up with the Leber / Krebs organization, binning the white satin and spandex stage costumes on the way determined that they should now be taken far more seriously on the strength of their music.

The band's first appearances without their infamous stage attire came on 'The 1980 Rock Marathon', a package tour comprised ANGEL, MAHOGANY RUSH, HUMBLE PIE, RUSSIA and MOTHER'S FINEST that toured the States, each band alternating as the heading act. At least that was the idea. ANGEL headlined only once, in Cleveland, Ohio, one of the few strongholds.

Newer songs like 'You're So Cold', hinted at a bold new direction for the group, but they were also becoming increasingly tired and, now out of their contract with Casablanca / PolyGram and no new deal on the horizon, frustrations began to grow.

1981 to 1998

Bassist Robinson was the first to leave, promptly followed by Frank Dimino to pursue a solo project with ex UFO keyboard player Paul Raymond that he'd started as a side project before Raymond had joined MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP. They were replaced by QUIET RIOT bassist Rudy Sarzo and ex TRILLION vocalist Dennis 'Fergie' Frederikson respectively, before Sarzo hooked up with OZZY OSBOURNE. Ex-BABYS bassist Ricky Phillips filled his shoes and some quite interesting demos were recorded.

Two of the songs written during this period can be heard on the Gregg Giuffria produced debut album from WHITE SISTER (released in 1984) and its 'Fashion By Passion' follow up.

The Punky Meadows penned 'Whips' (inspired by the song FRANK ZAPPA once wrote in honour of the guitarist, 'Punky's Whips') can be located on the former, whilst 'Trouble Shooter' is on the second record. A further duo of songs from this period actually turned up on the album recorded by Frederikson and Phillips for the Swedish label Empire in 1995, one written with Meadows, the other with Giuffria.

With no new deal on the horizon, however, ANGEL's star faded, with Frederikson joining LE ROUX for their 'So Fired Up' album before an equally short stint with TOTO.

Whilst Meadows and Giuffria stuck together for a period, intent on putting a new band together with apparent interest from CBS Records, ultimately the pair drifted apart.

In 1984, having produced the debut WHITE SISTER album, Giuffria set to work piecing a brand new incarnation of ANGEL together, the keyboard player being the only original member of the band on show. Joining Gregg came ex ROUGH CUTT guitarist Craig Goldy, one-time SABU vocalist DAVID GLEN EISLEY, ex SABU bassist Rick Bozzo and Alan Krigger on drums.

Bozzo was soon ousted in favour of QUIET RIOT bassist Chuck Wright before word reached Giuffria that his former band mates objected to the use of the name, forcing a change to GIUFFRIA, a deal with MCA's Camel subsidiary and long awaited chart success.

Following his departure from ANGEL, Felix Robinson played with 707 for a period before turning up in New York in the earliest incarnation of WHITE LION with whom he travelled to Germany to record their 'Fight To Survive' debut album, produced by Peter Hauke. He quit soon after the band returned to the United States and found employment with a hi-fi company.

Frank Dimino's working relationship with Paul Raymond transformed itself into THE RUFFIANS. Having originally worked with ex STRIKER guitarist Rick Ramirez, he was replaced by Jef Lubansky (who Dimino had played with in a club band post ANGEL) when he opted to leave after getting a deal for his new band BRUZER. The band's line-up was completed by ex ROD STEWART and JEFF BECK bassist Phil Chen (who had filled the shoes of John Brant, who decided to take up the vacant bassist's position in CHEAP TRICK) and one-time ARROWS drummer Paul Varley.

Raymond quit to work with TERRY REID whilst Dimino soldiered on, working with DONNA SUMMER producer Giorgio Moroder on a Pop Rock project, CYCLE V, recording tracks for the 'Flashdance' movie. One song, 'Seduce Me Tonight', appears on the soundtrack album.

Moving to Portland, Dimino put a new group, TERRIF together, featuring guitarist Joe Holmes (later to join LIZZY BORDEN, DAVID LEE ROTH and, more recently, OZZY OSBOURNE), bassist Emil Lech and drummer Tom Cosmo. Demos were recorded before Dimino, frustrated at the lack of progress, moved back to Los Angeles. Lech promptly joined SOUND BARRIER.

Barry Brandt's post ANGEL excursions were limited to contributing drum tracks to albums by erstwhile ALICE COOPER guitarist MICHAEL BRUCE's solo album and a similar affair by BANDIT axe slinger David Della Rossa. He teamed up with Dimino and Punky Meadows again in late 1985 in an attempt to resurrect ANGEL.

Since the final split Punky had formed a variety of different bands, none of which had any longevity. The reunited trio of Punky, Frank and Barry had tried to tempt Greg Giuffria back into the fold, but, when that had failed and they had passed on recruiting WHITE SISTER's Garri Brandon to fill Giuffria's shoes. Dimino enlisted old mate Paul Raymond into the fray, with Boston native and ex LAST CHILD / WILD BUNCH man Marc Normand rounding out the line-up on bass.

Despite a succession of managers - including photographer Barry Levine and Andrew Trueman, the reborn ANGEL failed to register only producing a relatively poor three song demo before disappearing. Dimino and Raymond relocated to live in Tokyo where they recorded under the monicker of the PAUL RAYMOND PROJECT (releasing an album). Normand eventually joined ex KEEL guitarist MARC FERRARI's new band COLD SWEAT whilst Meadows went home to Maryland where he remains, reportedly having worked in clubs in a variety of roles, ranging from bouncer to disc jockey.

Punky had attempted previously to find employment for himself with other bands. He had auditioned for Ace Frehley's place in the KISS ranks in late 1982, but KISS were intent on taking a relative unknown into the ranks anyhow, whilst Meadows also tried out for MICHAEL BOLTON with little success. At one point he was known to be living in Boston and attempting to put together a new band, at one point working with DRUID vocalist Eric Sager, which is where Meadows had met the aforementioned Marc Normand who was also in the short-lived group.

In recent years Dimino, Brandt and Felix Robinson have attempted several times to resurrect the ANGEL name, one incarnation actually managing to gig in Los Angeles, but interest from the band's most ardent fans has waned considerably.

GIUFFRIA following up their successful debut album with the rather less successful 'Silk And Steel' album, by which time the band's line-up had undergone a change or two, Gregg re-grouped. With the help of KISS man GENE SIMMONS returned with a revamped band, HOUSE OF LORDS and a deal with Gene's custom label Simmons Records.

HOUSE OF LORDS was fronted by ex L.A. ROCKS vocalist JAMES CHRISTIAN, and also featured guitarist Lanny Cordola, bassist Chuck Wright and ex FIFTH ANGEL / ALICE COOPER man Ken Mary on drums. The band was heavily based upon the rising star that was WHITESNAKE at the time, but married to the keyboard glory of early ANGEL. The group encountered some success with their self-titled debut album, released in 1988, but the two subsequent records, 'Sahara' and 'Demon's Down' (the latter on Phil Carson's Victory imprint) despite being superb records were marred by line-up changes and band in-fighting. The group splintered in 1993 with Gregg planning to work in A&R, rumoured to have gone into the automobile business as a Lexus dealer, but actually made a ton of money in the pinball industry!!

An attempt by James Christian to put HOUSE OF LORDS back together without Giuffria in the ranks (having allegedly negotiated with Gene Simmons for full rights to the band name) in 1995, but nothing would appear to have come of the plan.

In 1989 PolyGram's Special Products division were charged with the job of looking in to the matter of whether it would be viable to re-issue ANGEL's back catalogue, issuing a cassette only package, 'Can You Feel It' in the United States as a form of market tester.

In 1992 whilst the Japanese market dictated that the time was now right to re-issue the ANGEL back catalogue on CD for the first time, PolyGram in America decided to be a little more cautious, issuing a compilation album, 'An Anthology', prior to issuing the full back catalogue. The new version of 'Sinful' incorporating both the original 'Bad Publicity' artwork in the packaging and the two tracks previously only available on the 'Foxes' soundtrack for good measure.

 

Sadly for collectors, 'An Anthology' failed to include any of the long rumoured unreleased material from the PolyGram vaults beyond the previously known cover of 'Walk Away Renee' of 1978 vintage and the alternative version of 'The Winter Song' titled 'The Christmas Song' for a radio promo 45.

1999 to 2009

Amazingly, in 1998 word surfaced that the latest reformation of the band (involving Dimino, Meadows, Robinson and Brandt with an unknown keyboard player) were about to release a brand new album entitled 'In The Beginning'. The story came hot on the heels of a CHERRY PEOPLE reunion in Washington DC that Punky Meadows had recently participated in.

In truth, Dimino (who had been playing in a band called THE TRUTH!) and Brandt had teamed up in a new recording venture along with bassist Leo Borreo and guitarist Richie Ray using the ANGEL monicker and Robinson and Meadows would contribute to a number of tracks. Ray quit during recording.

Dimino also recorded a CHEAP TRICK track, 'On Top Of The World', for a tribute album entitled 'Stiff Competition' together with ex-STARZ guitarist Richie Ranno, ex-UFO and TARZEN keyboard player Danny Peyronel and the New Jersey based Hard Rock band SILENT WITNESS.

Bizarrely, Dimino also played three songs at an annual KISS convention organized by Ranno in April 1998 backed by a group called GARLIC!

1999 had ANGEL fans in eager anticipation as a new album 'In The Beginning', recorded by Dimino, Brandt, Meadows and Robinson, was issued online through the band's management. Minus Giuffria, the album saw contributions from WHITESNAKE and DAVID LEE ROTH keyboard player Brett Tuggle and guitarist Richie Marcello. However, during the final mixes for the record Dimino and Brandt inducted new keyboard player Gordon G.G. Gebert, an ex-member of FREHLEY'S COMET and author of the controversial KISS exposé 'Kiss And Tell', and bassist Randy Gregg. New keyboard parts were recorded in in Miami, Florida by Gebert but not used on the finished product. The album came complete with a free tattoo! Steve Dionne would be the interim guitarist, ANGEL performing one gig with this line up at the 1999 New England KISS Expo. Confusingly an 'alleged' ANGEL track 'One Track Mind' was posted on the internet although roundly condemned by official ANGEL sources.

By late 1999 ANGEL's touring line up found Dimino, Brandt, Gebert and Gregg joined by new recruit former LILLIAN AXE and NEAR LIFE EXPERIENCE guitarist Steve Blaze. This line up conducted club dates across North America. Gebert would also session on the 2000 VICK LECAR debut album. 2001 US Summer dates would then be capped by the band's first appearance in Europe, featured as a co-headling act at the 'Sweden Rock' festival. As live activity increased the band line up was set to change. Keyboard player Michael T. Ross of HARDLINE and ACCOMPLICE would join the fold in November of 2003 as speculation also put ex-member Rudy Sarzo, having just split away from QUIET RIOT, back in the frame on bass. Meantime Gebert issued his next book, 'Rock & Roll war Stories', in February of 2004. ANGEL performed their first ever gig in Holland during June of 2004, rather oddly at a KISS convention where they were billed as 'Special guests'.

Former bassist Mickey Jones was hospitalised to undergo treatment for cancer in 2008.