Vocalist/guitarist Johnny Diesel may only have been 22 when the debut album by Johnny Diesel & The Injectors was released, but the man born Mark Lizotte already had some serious road miles under his belt. Having formed the band in Perth in 1986, a year later the quartet relocated to Sydney, where Diesel met his future brother-in-law, former Cold Chisel lead singer Jimmy Barnes. Diesel won the guitar slot in Barnes’ band for the Freight Train Heart run of dates, while also leading The Injectors as main support on the tour, racking up more than 250 shows in the process. Upon the album’s release it instantly established Diesel as both a guitarist extraordinaire and charismatic vocalist—its honest, bluesy rock ’n’ roll calling to mind blue-collar rockers such as John Mellencamp and Bruce Springsteen (Bernie Bremond’s ever-present sax positioning him as Clarence Clemons to Diesel’s Springsteen). Recorded in Memphis with Terry Manning (George Thorogood and The Destroyers), the snarl in Diesel’s guitar during “Soul Revival,” “Fire Without a Flame,” and “Parisienne Hotel” speaks of a man used to harnessing its power night after night on stage, while “Cry in Shame” highlights his soulful, bluesy dexterity.