GREAT WHITE: 'Elation' First-Week Sales Revealed

"Elation", the new studio album from GREAT WHITE — Mark Kendall (lead guitar),Scott Snyder (bass),Audie Desbrow (drums),Michael Lardie (guitar, keyboards) and Terry Ilous (lead vocals) — sold around 1,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release. Issued on May 22 via Frontiers Records, the 12-song CD marks GREAT WHITE's first effort with Ilous following the band's split with founding singer Jack Russell.

"This is a new birth of the band," Desbrow said. "I wanted to call the album 'Tabula Rasa', which means rebirth, but we went for 'Elation' because of the euphoria in the atmosphere. It's a fresh and healthier start than ever before. I'm like a kid in a candy store."

Kendall, one of rock's most notable guitarists, echoed Desbrow's pure excitement. "The energy in the studio [was] amazing," Kendall said. "This is the most excited I've been since I was nine years old and got my first guitar. It's remarkable to be doing our third record with Frontiers Records and to feel the love and support from Serafino and his team. They are truly part of the GREAT WHITE family."

Lardie, who also served as "Elation"'s producer, applauded the band's teamwork in the studio. He was struck by the group's songwriting approach and enthusiasm, and is certain that fans will embrace the record.

"The difference in this studio experience was simple," he said. "Everyone was completely present and contributed to the making of this album. As a producer, I feel my part is to get the best out of each of us and I got better than anyone's best!"

"Elation" track listing:

01. (I've Got) Something For You
02. Feelin' So Much Better
03. Love Train
04. Heart Of A Man
05. Hard To Say Goodbye
06. Resolution
07. Shotgun Willie's
08. Promise Land
09. Lowdown (bonus track)
10. Just For Tonight
11. Love Is Enough
12. Complicated

GREAT WHITE filmed the "(I've Got) Something For You" video on April 27, in Tujunga, California. Photos from the video shoot can be found at this location.

This version of GREAT WHITE is not to be confused with JACK RUSSELL'S GREAT WHITE, which features Russell alongside Robby Lochner (FIGHT) on guitar, Matthew Johnson (DOCTOR M, JACK RUSSELL) on guitar, Dario Seixas (FIREHOUSE, STEPHEN PEARCY) on bass and Derrick Pontier (GREAT WHITE, SAMANTHA 7) on drums.

Russell filed a lawsuit against his estranged bandmates in March claiming that they fired him and stole the group's name while he was recovering from surgery to repair a perforated bowel. Named in the complaint were Kendall, Desbrow, Lardie and talent agency Bigg Time Entertainment. Kendall, Desbrow and Lardie responded with a 30-page counterclaim, filed on April 24 in a federal court in Los Angeles, accusing their former frontman of, among other things, "miss[ing] 80 performances in 18 months" before leaving the band; "irreparably damag[ing]" their "market reputation" by putting on performances that "are not up to the standard of GREAT WHITE; and misleading the public by stating that the musicians in Jack's new band "were once full members of GREAT WHITE." They also accuse Russell's new bandmates of "profit[ing] from their wrongful affiliation with the GREAT WHITE brand."