''3.V'' is the third studio album by

Zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zeb ...

. It was released in 1986 on

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

. This album marked a new, more AOR radio-friendly direction, attempting a commercial comeback for the group after the 1984 flop '' No Tellin' Lies''. This bid would prove unsuccessful as the record company did little in the way of promotion, and the album failed to chart – it would be the group's last studio album for Atlantic before being dropped from the label. The album went out-of-print in 1990. It was reissued in 2007 as an import paired on one CD with ''No Tellin' Lies'', another deleted title, as the stand-alone compact disc version became a scarce collector's item in the meantime. ''3.V'', along with the first two Zebra albums, was reissued on CD again in Japan in 2013. In 2016 Rock Candy Records reissued the album on CD.

Reception

Some critics have heralded this to be the best

album, even better than their debut. Doug Stone from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

gave the album 4.5 stars, saying "''3.V'' has that certain something extra: more than an album, ''3.V'' opens the mind of an unheralded genius." Classic Rock Review wrote that the album was "plagued by clusters of both mediocrity as well as pure brilliance" but "includes some of the band's finest work".

Track listing

All tracks were written by Randy Jackson

Personnel

Randy Jackson Randall Darius Jackson (born June 23, 1956) is an American record executive and television presenter, perhaps best known as a judge on ''American Idol'' from 2002 to 2013. Jackson began his career in the 1980s as a session musician playing bas ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

, Prophet 5

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

Felix Hanemann Felix Hanemann (born May 1, 1953) is an American singer and musician. Biography Early life He graduated from Warren Easton High School and attended the University of New Orleans and Loyola (Music Major, English Minor). His joined first band, Th ...

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

*Guy Gelso –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, backing vocals,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

Production

*Arranged & Produced by Randy Jackson & Zebra *Stephen Benben, Jamie Chaleff, Ken Collins, Ellen Fitton, Ira McLaughlin, Dan Nash - engineers *Mitchell Frondelli, Dan Nash – mixing

References

{{Authority control Zebra (band) albums 1986 albums Atlantic Records albums