Rock veterans give life to the DEAD DAISIES

August 25, 2016 at 12:05a.m.

For every KISS and Def Leppard, there are hundreds of signed bands that got a shot but never achieved stardom. However, many of those musicians enjoy successful careers by joining established bands as journeymen of rock.

That in a nutshell explains the Dead Daisies, a safe haven for veteran rockers that have spent decades touring the world with recognizable acts but still itch to create their own music.

Formed in 2012, the group has gone through numerous lineup changes. The current Dead Daisies lineup features guitarist Doug Aldrich (Whitesnake, Dio), singer John Corabi (Motley Crue, The Scream), bassist Marco Mendoza (Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake), drummer Brian Tichy (Ozzy Osbourne, Billy Idol) and guitarist David Lowy (Red Phoenix, Mink).

“Some people refer to us as a super group,” said Corabi, calling from Dublin, Ireland. “I hate the term, it’s just weird to me. As big as the world is, the music world is just so small and the circles you run around in, you’re just always meeting people. You wind up being friends with them.”

“The only thing I can say about this band is this is a group of old pals. When they were talking to me about joining, I was like, ‘Wait, who is in the band?’ You start thinking about it: I’ve never been in a band with any of these guys, and I think they are incredible players.”

Shortly after Corabi joined the band last year, the act recorded its latest effort, “Make Some Noise.” The singer said the album title was basically the band’s marching orders in the studio, with the idea of creating an old school ’70s rock ’n’ roll record.

The tunes, which are all very much in a Led Zeppelin-meets-Aerosmith motif, include the lead single “Long Way to Go,” as well as Corabi favorites “We All Fall Down” and “Last Time I Saw the Sun.”

Fans can hear the new tunes when the Dead Daisies come to Youngstown as opener for KISS at Covelli Centre on Friday.

“From a business point of view, we know that we want to make a dent in America,” Corabi said. “We thought, ‘What’s the best way? Let’s do the KISS tour.’ It’s going to put us in front of a lot of people.”

In the mainstream, Corabi is most known for his stint in Motley Crue, which included the band’s self-titled 1994 effort. By 1997, the singer was out when original frontman Vince Neil returned to the fold.

Corabi said when he looks back at the experience, it was doomed from the start. However, he stressed the album itself under a different name would have found an audience.

“I could give you a list of things that were done wrong,” Corabi said. “The band was not going to be called Motley Crue but the managers and labels were like, ‘If you change the name of the band you’ll have to go back down the ladder and start over.’”

“I never wanted to go out and start in these massive arenas. I thought we should have started just doing maybe 10 or 15 unannounced last-minute shows and just kind of build it. It kind of blew up.”

That’s rock ’n’ roll. Also, it seems as though Corabi could commiserate with former Extreme singer Gary Cherone, who momentarily during the same time period fronted Van Halen.

“Gary and I have laughed about a few things,” Corabi said. “It’s weird, when I saw Gary after he got the Van Halen gig, I gave him a hug and said, ‘Good luck. Hopefully it’ll be a great time for you.’”

“After the fallout, I saw him again, gave him another hug and said, ‘Dude, I can relate.’”