Tora Tora : Surprise Attack

I'M PUTTIN' ON 

MY WALKIN' SHOES

I TELL YA BABY,

I'M NOT YOUR FOOL

I'M STEPPIN' OUT

IN MY WALKIN' SHOES

I TELL YA BABY

I'M LEAVIN' YOU

 Surprise Attack

 is the 

debut 

studio album 

by American 

Hard Rock band

 Tora Tora

 released in 

May 1989

 through A&M Records.

The album peaked 

at #47 

on the

 Billboard 200

 U.S. album

 sales chart.

The album's lead single,

 "Walkin' Shoes,"

 achieved 

minor chart success 

and 

moderate airplay.

 Other singles included

 "Guilty" 

and 

"Phantom Rider."

Background

History and Songwriting

In June 1987, 

Tora Tora

 won a

 "Battle of the Bands" 

competition with 

a prize permitting 

the winner to 

spend

 one day recording

 in Ardent Studios, 

a recording studio 

in the band's hometown

 of Memphis, Tennessee. 

The recording session

 produced a few songs

 that the band would

 ultimately release on an

 EP, 

To Rock to Roll,

 in 1987. 

After recording those

 initial songs, 

Tora Tora 

returned to 

Ardent Studios

 in September

 to record 

"Phantom Rider,"

 the original version 

of which included 

a piano section

 performed by

 Paul Ebersold, 

who would

 later produce 

Surprise Attack. 

Another song 

produced during those

 early sessions 

that would

 later appear on 

Surprise Attack

 was 

"Love's a Bitch."

 Both songs

 received 

considerable airplay 

on a local 

Memphis-based 

radio station

 prior to the band

 receiving their

 record deal

 from A&M Records.

When it came to songwriting, 

guitarist 

Keith Douglas

 cited 

Memphis blues

 as an influence

 on some of the songs 

that ended up on

 Surprise Attack. 

Douglas stated that

 he taught himself

 riffs associated 

with the genre

 and that one of

 those riffs

 eventually developed into

 "Walkin' Shoes,"

 which was one

 of the last songs 

written for the album. 

Lead singer 

Anthony Corder

 received help from

 a friend named 

Thomas Howard

 in writing some 

of the album's songs,

 including 

"Hard Times," 

"Phantom Rider," 

and

 "She's Good, She's Bad."

The band wrote 

at least 60 songs

 that did not make it 

onto the final 

Surprise Attack

 track listing;

 in October 2009,

 Tora Tora

 released

 compilations containing

 at least 15 

of those songs. 

One of the songs

 released was a

 demo of

 "Walkin' Shoes" 

recorded prior

 to the one

 that wound up on 

Surprise Attack.

LINK