One of the secret joys about being a parent is being able to watch kids shows without any feelings of guilt whatsoever. One show that my boys watch over and over is Nickelodeon’s Drake & Josh, and I’m there with them every time. Just puts me in the mind of an 80s sitcom, a genre sadly missing from the television these days.
We bought this disc as a gift for my youngest and he would play it night and day, loudly. But, I sure as hell took notice because this was far from what I expected it would be. Obviously the boy was raised right musically because it would have been all too easy for him to release some over processed, auto-tuned mess rather than this power pop blast of goodness.
Seemingly inspired by Jellyfish, Paul McCartney and Cheap Trick, it’s standard three chord rock that far exceeds any sort of expectations. Not that I’m complaining, because it’s so easy to hit repeat on a track like the riffy and oh-so-hit-worthy title track, which not only reaches for the rafters but proceeds to blow the roof off. The same could be said for the sunny day 70s pop of “Makes Me Happy” or the acoustic take of the Drake & Josh theme song “I Found A Way” which continue this poptastic streak.
But, it’s songs like the vaudevillian opener “Up Periscope,” the pure piano pop of “I Know” or the deep Beatlesque “Fool The World” that elevate this far above typical teen idol fare.
On the musical front, Drake has been awfully quiet other than some live shows (where he actually covers Jellyfish’s “Joining A Fan Club” and nails it). I heard a new track from an album that’s been forever due and though it has an almost industrial touch shows a lot of promise and still very much in the power pop world.
It amazes me that there are still a fair amount of people that think that “grunge killed hair metal,” when in reality hair metal did just fine to kill itself off. 3rd tier bands were releasing mediocre product thinking they’d be able to ride Bon Jovi and Poison’s coat tails forever. What people always fail to understand, music is cyclical in nature and no one genre ever stays on top for long. When the stagnation sets in, all that needs to happen is for the right band to be in the right place at the right time to bring about sweeping change. And, that’s exactly what Nirvana did. Did they plan it? No, Cobain was lucky to stand upright. But, for that one moment in time, lightning struck Seattle and the musical storm once again changed.
So by the time 1996 rolled around, I think it’s safe to say that not many were pining for a new Def Leppard album, except those who were still sitting around blaming grunge for all their begotten musical ills. Shame of it is - what is probably the most misunderstood Def Leppard album was also one of their best. Had the Mercury promotional team handled things correctly, sales might have been more multi-platinum rather than just scratching gold.
I have to admit, the first time I listened to it I had taken notice how different the sound was. In fact, you couldn’t not notice. It was contemporary and not so reliant on technology or production. It was rough, down-tuned and dare I say, industrial. Title track notwithstanding, gone suddenly were songs about pouring sugar and getting rocked to make way for much more personal songs.
The first two tracks, “Truth?” and “Turn To Dust,” were not exactly the best choices for album openers. Not bad songs by any stretch, just out of place. Once track three rolls on, the title track “Slang,” the album just kicks in and never lets up. That title track also should have been the first single in the US, as it is the closest song here that bridges the gap between old Lep and new Lep.
From there on out, the next seven songs in a row all had hit single potential. From the Bryan Adams like “All I Want Is Everything” to the thrash-like blitz of “Gift Of Flesh,” even now these songs stand up remarkably well. Hell, maybe even better than when they were released.
But, it is absolutely criminal that the superior power ballad “Breathe A Sigh” was never promoted in any way, shape or form as a single. A bit sparse and almost a capella at times, it is hands down one of the best songs this band has ever recorded. That goes for the other power ballads, “Blood Runs Cold” and “Where Does Love Go When It Dies,” which I’d throw up against any ballad the band has ever recorded.
I think this relative failure hit the band pretty hard. I saw them on the “Slang” tour, with Filter in tow, and although they played quite a few songs from the album, the passion and conviction seemed to be missing. They’d regroup though and go on to record a few more killer albums, all pretty much ignored as well. They have seemingly turned into a nostalgic touring act now but here’s hoping they still have the fire to get a few more albums out as there is definitely a huge hole in the musical world without them.
I’ve never shied away from admitting my unabashed love of 70s AM Gold type pop. Even though I lost a bit of touch with it throughout the 80s and the earlier part of the 90s, I’ve come to look at it now as a sort of musical comfort food. With no sense of irony, I can listen to something like Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods or Shaun Cassidy like I am listening to The Beatles.
This love affair started in the mid-70s when my family lived in Germany for about a year when I was 10 years old. Since I didn’t speak the tongue, short of being in school during the day at the Air Force base in Wiesbaden, my only friend was an AM Radio that pumped out one glorious pop hit after another. Every Sunday was like a holiday when Casey Kasem would count down the top 40 on Armed Forces Radio, where I kept a notebook writing down the hits as they came in. Eventually I went so far as to create my own charts, counting them down to myself in an effort to combat the loneliness. Man, what I would give to see those notebooks now. On second thought... As we returned to the US and my tastes eventually shifted into something a little more riffy, I never did lose touch with those softer pop roots. I’d imagine it explains a lot of why I was never really turned off by things like Air Supply or Rick Astley in “my” decade.
When I got my writing on in the late-90s, one of the people I frequently corresponded with was A&R guy Jonathan Daniel, whose own bands will feature prominently in the future. He wanted to turn me on to an artist he was working with, Kyle Vincent (one time singer of the poptastic 80s band Candy), who would set my 70s Pop senses tingling. This fantastic self-titled major label disc released in 1997 wound up spawning two minor hits in “Arianne” and “Wake Me When The World’s Worth Waking Up For.” Suddenly, it seemed that I didn’t need to hide my “Time/Life Sounds Of The 70s” collection anymore. I had company in my AM Gold closet…
Well, turns out that a few years before, Kyle recorded an album for MCA in 1994 called “Trust,” that wouldn’t see release until later on in 2007 (retitled “A Night Like This”). Falling somewhere on the musical spectrum between 80s Rick Springfield and 70s Barry Manilow, the album serves as a time capsule of a rather care free and happy period of time that would be changing rapidly.
Listening now, I’m still awestruck at how good Kyle’s vocals are. They are so clean and crisp and in the proper mixture, served as a finely tuned instrument on its own. And, although the production reeks of the early 90s, the songs as well hold up remarkably well and show that a well crafted song can bludgeon its way through any amount of gloss.
Whether it’s the straight up arena rock of the title track or the infectious “Something To Remember My By,” HUGE Eric Carmen-like power ballads “Maybe It’s Better” or “Wherever You Are Tonight” or the simple radio pop of a song like “What Am I Gonna Do” and “Now I Know,” Kyle’s heart-on-sleeve writing style takes the material many steps above what was going on at the time.
Kyle is still pumping out amazing softer styled rock to this day. His “Wow & Flutter” album is highly recommended and could easy have taken this place of this album for a column all on its own. He did gig for a spell with the Bay City Rollers (!) and also performs cover sets of 70s music with the Have A Nice Day band. A vastly underrated musician who really is seemingly all alone in the musical world.
[As I finished the article, I asked Kyle himself to give me some thoughts on the album and the era around it. When he sent me is just priceless, enjoy!]
I have mixed feelings about the days of the Trust album. As the album itself was eclectic, so were the sessions. One day I'd be in a top Hollywood recording studio watching Jerry Hey conduct an incredible orchestra playing the little notes I had written for them, and another day I'd be singing a vocal track in Clif Magness' bathroom in Calabasas.
So many great artists contributed to the 'album that never was'. The title track was a groovy R&B number that featured the percussionist who played on the Spinners' hits, female backing singers that sang on some of the biggest Soul hits of the 70s, and of course the producer was Steve Levine, best known for his work with Culture Club and the Beach Boys.
Sadly, the record company suits were just impossible to work with. They would come into a session at the end of the day, BMW keys jangling in one hand, and toss out ridiculous comments that had nothing to do with anything. They signed me because they loved my demos and the songs, but when it came time to actually record those songs for the record, they complained that they couldn't decide if I were George Michael or Bryan Adams. I would tell them, "Uh, can't I be both and double my fan base?" They didn't see it that way.
There were 3 producers. Me, Clif Magness, who was coming off some huge hits with Wilson Phillips, and Steve Levine. On the tracks I produced, I hired all my favorite players. I called in Freddie Washington on bass, Michael Jackson' s drummer JR Robinson, Madonna's drummer Jonathan Moffett, Rick Springfield's guitarist, and one of the Brothers Johnson on bass. I called up saxophonist Gerald Albright to come down and play a solo, and he did. And then I had Gerry Beckley from America sing and play guitar and Fender Rhodes keyboards.
What incredible sessions those were. The creative part of the record making was all joy, especially the day David Bowie was in the adjacent studio and we got to just hang out for a while. [a clip of that is on my Facebook page].
The biz part of it was mostly aggravating. The label must've promised me 100 times when the record would be released. They gave every excuse, "We're waiting to find the right slot for it to drop. We can't drop it when Bobby Brown's coming out. We'll drop it in a month". It ended up being dropped off a cliff and never being released. I was on tour with Barrry Freaking Manilow, playing in front of tens of thousands of people per night, and there was no record in the stores. I didn't even have t-shirts. Nothing. I remember one night after a show I went to the hotel office and borrowed their typewriter and typed up mailing list cards, one by one, so I could have something to hand out to people after my shows. To this day many of my faithful fans came from those little cards.
I could write a book on all the good and bad that went on behind the scenes during the Trust sessions, but overall it was an amazing experience, I learned a ton, met some great people, and am incredibly proud of the musical results.
When this album came out, unless you were watching MTV at 3AM like I was prone to do, you would have completely missed out on this. Luckily, not only was I watching but was completely hooked on the single, “I’m A Fighter,” in one shot. It was the kind of the sound that only 1985 could bring, bordered on one side by the decline of new wave and the other by the over produced and glossy arena rock of the latter part of the decade. Taking major cues from Survivor, Van Hagar and the like, the youngest of Florida’s Van-Zant clan released this effort to thunderous silence.
The band was signed to Geffen, which was the kind of label I tended to purchase albums from “sound unheard.” They had a real knack of releasing quality radio rock without any promotion and letting them drown without a trace. All things considered I could write a year’s worth of columns on that alone. Anyways...
The Van-Zant release always puzzled me how it didn’t at least get the band a foothold on Gold territory. “I’m A Fighter” sounded like a lost tune from the Rocky 3 soundtrack (and with good reason as seeing how it was written by Jimi Jamison) and was the kind of song that top down summer nights was made for. Strange thing (or maybe not depending on how well you know the music business), that was far from the best song here.
Listening now takes me back to those days when I was driving around in my cherry red Mustang GT, which was required driving in northern New Jersey. But, rather than blasting cheesy dance music that sounds like it was recorded with a Casio SK1, songs like the smooth and hit worthy “You’ve Got To Believe In Love,” the Jeff Paris penned “Heart To The Flame” or the urgent sounding “2+2” all should have had no trouble finding a home on rock radio or MTV.
Of course, like so many gems of the era many have tagged the “AOR Glory Years,” it went almost straight to the cut out bins only to be treasured by those who stumbled across it accidentally. To further cement that AOR connection, background vocals were provided by the awesome Terry Brock, whose band Strangeways is another cult classic that will be featured here in the future.
Though most of the songs were written by outside songwriters, the best songs were written by Johnny along with his brother, Donnie, and somewhat pointed the way of how .38 Special’s sound would shape up on their “Strength In Numbers” album. My favorite song here is the mid-tempo ballad “Two Strangers” and is one of those songs that I just never get tired of hearing. It has the kind of sonics that probably would have sounded equally as great in front of a lighter waving, crowd filled arena as it would pumping out of a beer spilled boom box.
Not much ever happened with this band after, as Johnny released a few more Southern tinged solo efforts, leading to his transformation as the lead singer in Lynyrd Skynyrd. Looks like a few of his bandmates came along for the ride for a few years, but I could find no information otherwise.
A textbook example of quality over quantity, it’s a AOR true bargain bin classic.
I’ve always been something of a pop-head. I guess it came from being raised on AM radio back in the 70s, where the worlds of ABBA would collide with the likes of Kiss, and no one thought it strange in the least. Even when I was a “rocker” by day, listening to Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd, by night I was listening in secret to the Bee Gees and the Bay City Rollers. I was always more of a McCartney and not Lennon guy. Give me those silly little love songs any day.
As I skated through the 80s, bouncing between Iron Maiden one day and Journey the next, I was dragged into the 90s and, while I might have been late to their party, discovered the band Jellyfish. It really did shake the foundations of my musical base. Suddenly, here was a band that was not only afraid to cite someone like the Carpenters or Badfinger as influences, they did so quite proudly by covering their songs in concert. While the rest of the world was nursing the mediocrity of the hair metal hangover, Jellyfish were busy attempting to craft the perfect intelligent pop song and succeeding, even if no one was listening at the time.
That discovery also set me on a course of finding bands that shared their vision of a pop utopia. I came across many albums, both old and new, that I still treasure to this day, but none more so than “Bully” from the Dallas band Sugarbomb. Taking equal bits of the grandiose of Queen, the orchestration of Electric Light Orchestra and the brilliance of Supertramp’s pop sheen, it has become the kind of album I love as much from the first listen as I do on the thousandth. Like the best classics, each time out brings new bits that you didn’t catch before and remains fresh to this day, some nine years on.
Oddly enough, the band was dropped by their label RCA as their single “Hello” was denting the lower reaches of the chart, thanks to its placement in the film Van Wilder. The album had the really unfortunate timing of being released two weeks after September 11, 2001 and a world that was bordering on happiness was thrown into years of despair then hope and eventual recovery. There just wasn’t a place at the time for happy go lucky pop.
There were so many potential hit singles here, from the bouncy power pop of “What A Drag” to the balls out rock of “Clover” and “Gone” to amazing harmonics of my favorite song on offer, the very Queen-like “After All.” I wonder if everyone might have been better served to put the album back on the shelf for a year or so while the world sorted itself out.
I was lucky enough to get a CD with a handful of songs that would have made up the next album and these guys were definitely on to something. But, nothing ever became of it and I have no idea what happened to the foursome after. Even Google searches turn up very little other than glowing reviews of people who share my unyielding passion for this set. Considering the price it currently fetches on Amazon, this would be the best $1.52 you ever spent.
I think just about anyone my age would call the decades of the 90s/00’s a vast musical wasteland. Sure there were exceptions, but overall, the mainstream continued to get further flushed down the crapper. So leave it be to me to come across one of the great undiscovered rock albums from a band that might have been considered to be part of said wasteland.
Nine Days will always be looked at as nothing more than a one hit wonder, with their “Absolutely (Story Of A Girl)” propagating many a “Now That’s What I Call Music” type compilation.
Sure, the follow up single, “If I Am” did a minor bit of chart damage but it’s doubtful many remember this one.
So with a moderately successful major label debut under their belt, the band set out to record their second for Sony and then were promptly dropped and the album left to sit around unreleased.
I have to wonder what the people at the label were thinking when the band handed in the tapes for this one. Even as I listen now, this set holds up remarkably well and if one didn’t know any better, could easily have thought it came out yesterday (well, minus a reliance on stuff like auto-tune).
With a sound that now resembles what Train might sound like if they were a Green Day cover band, it’s everything a fan of anthemic rock would want. Big, bold and loud with choruses made to be sung along combined with a handful of introspective (yet never plodding) ballads, this album is close to the top of my “WTF was the label thinking?” chart.
What easily could have been mined for hit after hit, songs like “Good Friend,” the infectious “Emily,” the poptastic “The Joneses” and the amazing epic “Ocean” should have taken this band multi-platinum alongside their similarly sounding brethren Matchbox 20.
Looking back to 2002, music was trending more towards the forthcoming decade chart dominance of American Idol and hip-hop. With Nickelback being the only rock band in the top 10 for the year, it might have been one of the many periods of “experts” proclaiming yet again...rock is dead. But, with a little scratching at the surface, albums like this were easily uncovered and this was actually one of my favorite musical time periods. I found so many great bands that for the most part remain undiscovered, and will give me endless writing fodder.
As opener, “Favorite Song,” prophetically stated, “What if everything you had, was like a castle made of sand, would you open your hand or hold on tight?” Who knew they might have talking about their own career?
The band has since released a handful of excellent EPs and seems to have fractured into a set of solo acts. Since it remains unreleased, the band offers this album for free (yep, free!) in high quality downloads over at their site, www.ninedaysmore.com. So, really, now you have no excuse.
During my retail years of the late 80s, I did my damnedest to promote bands I liked in store, which was usually a refreshing reprieve from the alternative hipster stuff that the other employees tended to play during their shifts. For every Smiths or Joy Division record that was played, I usually counter-acted with some David Lee Roth or Whitesnake. And, when one of those resulted in a sale I was all the much happier.
One album that gained a lot of play from me was Honeymoon Suite’s AOR classic, “The Big Prize.” Not a spin went by that didn’t sell a copy or two, and sometimes I wondered if I generated more sales for the band than their own label did. Though it did generate the top 40 “Feel It Again,” platinum still eluded the band.
Now back in the day, I used to be genuinely excited on Tuesdays when all the new releases came out, and the particular day this album hit, I couldn’t wait to get one out of the box and go to lunch and for a ride, just so I could crank the volume. With one listen, I was so sure that the band had outdid themselves that surely this is the one that will have them selling out arenas and filling up MTV’s rotation with hit after hit. Obviously, that never happened.
Ted Templeman’s production was spot on and highlighted a set of songs that were big, brash and full of an attitude that could only come from a band that felt like they were on the edge of superstardom.
Whether it was rockers (seemingly custom made for MTV), like “Looking Out For Number One,” “Other Side Of Midnight” or the hit single in waiting, “Love Changes Everything,” the songs had a punch that still brings me back to top down summer days.
Not to forget their more melodic AOR side, how songs like “Long Way Back,” the massive “It’s Over Now” or the straight up arena rocker “Tears On The Page” didn’t get cigarette lighters afloat I still don’t know.
Even a throwaway like “Fast Company” still features some blistering guitar work courtesy of the vastly underrated Derry Grehan and the not atypical vocals of Johnny Dee, which both help elevate it above the ever more processed pop and rock of the year.
Also of note here is an excellent cover of i-Ten’s “Cold Look” and the keyboard dominated theme song from “Lethal Weapon 2.”
Although the debut generated the biggest buzz (thanks to their biggest hit “New Girl Now”) and “The Big Prize” is the one that seems to be the cult classic, over time, this is the album I reach for more often than the others. Just tweaks all the right spots...
The band would go on to release a “Singles” collection (which contained one of the band’s best songs ever in “Still Lovin’ You”) and 1991’s better than average “Monsters Under The Bed” before taking a low profile for most of the 90s. They wouldn’t release another album until 2001 with “Lemon Tongue.” In 2008, the band released “Clifton Hill” and more recently are still quite busy touring.
It’s a safe bet that by 2000, anything remotely glam was dead. Between rap’s “edge” and teen pop ruling the charts along with most rock bands downtuning their instruments and their looks, it seemed no one was interested in good ol’ fashioned “sex, drugs and rock n’ roll.” I guess the boys in Tsar never got the memo, and I’m actually somewhat amazed that someone at Hollywood records gave them a shot.
This album was a 10 song celebration of what made so much of the 70s and 80s great: fist pumping, lighter waving melodies bursting with hooky riffs and punchy leads surrounded by the Robin Zander-like wail of Jeff Whalen. All the songs here show the potential for filling an arena yet carry an almost indie-like cred to them that should have endeared them to both those still trying to hold on to their youth as well as that wanna-be alternative crowd. Judging by the sales, sadly they latched neither.
With songs like the infectious candy of “I Don’t Want To Break Up,” the immense “Kathy Fong Is The Bomb” and the slow yet not quite ballad “Ordinary Gurl” all screaming out to be the lost hit singles the NY Dolls never had, this is LA strip meets NY gutter meeting up somewhere in the heartland of America.
Worth hunting down is the “King Of School EP,” with remixes and B-sides from the album including a wicked rocked up cover of the Backstreet Boys’ “Larger Than Life.”
The band would eventually follow up this release with the rather disappointing “Band-Girls-Money,” where gone was so much of the polish that made this debut so enjoyable. Apparently a new album is in the works. I hope so as this lot proves there’s still a massive void in rock waiting to be filled by someone not afraid to have fun.
I doubt there’s a person older than 30 that hasn’t heard the massive #1 single “(I Just) Died In Your Arms,” but for whatever reason, the massive success of the single failed to translate into album sales and I never could quite understand why. Listening now, it stands firmly as a period piece and yet is filled with enough layers and textures that almost 25 years later holds up better than most of that year’s efforts. Caught somewhere between Tears For Fears and Night Ranger, it’s a release that all at once both sums up a decade musically while having the potential to look forward and be so much more.
Produced to absolute perfection by a team more associated with the harder rock of Rush or Tesla (Steve Thompson, Terry Brown, John Jansen and Michael Barbiero), it really is one of the best sonically sounding discs from the era. From the chiming arena rockers “One For The Mockingbird” and “Don’t Look Back” to the more subdued balladry of “I’ve Been In Love Before” and the soaring “Sahara”, this should and would have appealed more to the “90125”-era Yes/Journey/Genesis crowd rather than the end of the new wave romantics they seemingly were promoted to. I can only imagine that a lack of touring combined with Virgin’s inability to see beyond a quick hit single did them in.
The band followed this release up with two more albums that sank with little fanfare. Though co-founder guitarist Kevin MacMichael went on to play with Robert Plant, he sadly passed away in 2002. In 2006, vocalist Nick Van Eade gave the band another try with the release of “Grinning Souls,” and had limited success touring the nostalgia circuit. Whether there’s another Cutting Crew release or tour in the future is anyone’s guess.
Sometimes “best” depends on what you’re in to. If you’re tastes run to the eclectic or different, than this album is not for you. But, if you’re like me and can appreciate a finely performed pop song as much as you can a Led Zeppelin blues jam then this over-produced slab of confection (and that’s meant with nothing but affection) is for you.
The transition from the mid to late 80s were an interesting time in pop music. Punchy new wave guitars were being pushed aside for as much keyboards as you could fit into a 3 minutes song. Suddenly every song on the charts sounded like it came straight out of a movie.
Eric Martin released a rather spunky hard rocker a few years earlier to little success. Trying a different approach on this second outing by surrounding himself with some of the best studio musicians and songwriters in the business, the result is a superior vocalist singing the crap out of simple almost danceable tunes and elevating them far above where they ended up.
Kicking off with the “how it never was a hit single is beyond me” track in “These Are The Good Times” (which also featured on the Iron Eagle soundtrack), things find a a comfortable groove and never stray far. From the beautiful soul of “Everytime I Think Of You” the infectious swing of the title track to the outright arena rock of “Crazy World Like This” the whole affair brings to mind Steve Perry’s “Street Talk,” Phil Collins affliction for horns and the best of Hall & Oates white boy soul. There’s really not a song here that, with just the right push, couldn’t have been pulled aside and made into a hit.
Obviously, Eric Martin would go on to much bigger things as the lead singer for Mr. Big and most of these songs would go on to be covered by other artists.
When I used to run my website back in the 90s, I used to get a lot of CDs to review in the mail. Daily I would open the mailbox to pull out five or six packages and I’d say roughly, that 99% of them were crap of the highest (lowest?) caliber. But, what made it all worth it was the occasional gem pulled out that would just blow you away.
My first listen to The Loveless was unlike anything I had heard in a long while. In 1995, glammy power pop wasn’t exactly in flavor, with the harder alternative rock dominating the airwaves. So, when the first strains of “If I Only Knew Then” came ripping out of my tinny laptop speakers, I immediately perked up. Before the song could even end, I had already popped out the disc, hopped in the car and took it for a ride. This album was so good that after it finished the first time, I kept driving long enough to hear it through a second time.
Besides the infectious nature of all twelve songs, what really sets this album apart from practically anything that has come down the pike before or after is the drop dead amazing songwriting of Jonathan Daniels. The wordplay of the lyrics is witty to the point of novelty, yet comes from a depth of reality of broken hearts and shattered lives. They’re the kinds of tunes that not only will you be singing for days on end, but quoting in everyday life. I mean, when this is the first line that hits you, you know you’re in for something special:
“The story of his life is a book of regrets The might-have-beens and the days he’d rather forget So busy jumping someone else’s train He always missed the boat Another missed opportunity, another song somebody else wrote”
The pinnacle of this genius can be heard in the absolute, should have been massive hit, “The Return Of The Ex-Girlfriend.” You’ll be laughing along all the while feeling the pain of every lost love you ever had.
“The return of the ex-girlfriend the pretty face rears its ugly head drop dead gorgeous drop dead...”
From the heartfelt strains of “I Almost Miss You” and “Can’t Stand Loving You” to the outright sarcastic glee of “Growing Up Has Let Me Down” and “Sex And Drugs And Rock & Roll Are Dead,” there is not a wasted word, note or melody line here. The band’s chemistry, a seeming New York City brotherhood, keeps everything tight, with each thump of the bass or crisp snap of the snare driving home points of hope and despair.
For being an independent release, the band’s image and noire’ packaging rivals those from major labels and is just one more piece of a perplexing puzzle of commercial failure.
Though there were some demos floating around of a second album, nothing ever really materialized but considering the band was formed from the ashes of the Electric Angels (which in turn was formed from the ashes of Candy), their self-titled disc is also highly recommended. Bassist and lyrical leader Jonathan Daniel is now manager to acts like Train, Butch Walker and Panic! At The Disco. Guitarist John Ceparano now plays in a swing band while drummer John Schubert is a history teacher. As for vocalist Shane, despite the occasional MySpace release, still MIA last I heard.
More a set of demos strung together rather than a proper complete album, it doesn’t negate the fact that this is some of the best arena sized pomp that’s ever graced my ears.
I first came across this band on one of my weekly trips to the Village in New York City, St. Mark’s Place to be more exact. There, me and an ever revolving group of friends would scour places like Sounds or Rock N’ Roll Heaven for all the imports, demos and promo items we could get our hands on. One trip in 1989 scored me a 4 song cassette EP by Long Island’s Tour De Force, which I knew of by name at least from seeing their giant full page ads in rags like the Aquarian.
Most of the demos I would pick up over the years never amounted to much (save for a little known group called Hollywood Rose, which would go on to become Guns N’ Roses). But, this cassette just captivated me and because a permanent fixture in my car. In particular, songs like the bouncy “Back To You” or the MEGA ballad “Coming Home” brought to mind the finest moments of Danger Danger or Night Ranger. Soaring vocalist Chali Cayte simply sounds like he was born for this.
The disc itself kicks off with the Michael Bolton penned “Tonight,” and like the majority of songs here is an infectious keyboard dominated rocker that should have had filled arenas fist pumping rather than becoming something of a lost legend (like their NYC brethren Aviator or Prophet).
Songs like “If It’s Over” or “Rough Boy” keep the winning streak going with songs that are about as 80s as you can get, yet no matter when I spin this set, it sounds as fresh as the day I first purchased that EP. Though it loses some steam in the middle of the disc, at 17 songs it’s a bit expected and trimming it to an even dozen would have been a better bet.
If hard rock dominated by layer upon layer of keyboards is your thing and a band name like Giuffria or Shy gets you foaming at the mouth, you’ll wonder how this lot slipped under your radar.
Recently reissued yet again just the other week through AOR Heaven, I honestly have no idea what happened to any of the members of this group. Though their actual self-titled debut for Geffen eventually saw the light of day, from what I hear it’s a mostly avoidable affair that doesn’t touch the potential of what most of these demos offered.
It’s pretty much a dead horse to complain that music is just not the same as it used to be. Whether the complaint is about the overuse of technology (like auto-tune), compression or just the basic lack of good songs, there are always exceptions to the rule, especially if you’re willing to look outside of what the mainstream filters to your ears.
In what is probably the best album I’ve heard in at least 5 years, British duo the Yeah You’s have taken just about every sound I like personally and rolled it around 11 perfectly crafted pop songs that, for whatever reasons I’ve used in the past for an album failing probably apply here.
While the biggest sounds that jump out at you are 80’s Yes and Genesis, keep listening and sounds of Cutting Crew, The Outfield and even Pet Shop Boys will eventually pass your brain. This is intelligently crafted pop that uses the technology afforded rather than rely on it. Vocalist Nick Ingram brings that 80’s Yes vibe home by having a singing style somewhere in the middle of Jon Anderson and Trevor Ravbin.
If you’re a fan of big melodies and even bigger sing along choruses, then you probably won’t find a finer modern album, especially if the majority of your music collection is 25 years old. Songs like “15 Minutes,” “If I Could” and “If It All Runs Out” are upbeat and memorable ear worms of the best kind and will get your foot tapping and your hand turning the volume knob to the right as far as it will go. One listen to “Getting Up With You” will leave you speechless and wondering how it didn’t become THE summer anthem of 2010.
There is not a song I even remotely dislike here and the whole album has that obsessive “repeat play” feeling about it and could be one of the single finest examples of how broken the music industry really is, if they couldn’t pull at least one respectably charting single from it.
The duo has since changed their name to Madfox and from what I gather are working on a new album. Since this disc though is barely 2 years old, maybe it’s not too late for an Island re-release and a proper promotional push? Not bloodly likely I suppose.
As the late 80s came to a close, the mire of hair metal and over-processed pop had pretty much taken over the musical world. Not that there wasn’t a lot of goodness in the mainstream, but it really is easy to look back now and wonder what the hell we were thinking allowing a band like BulletBoys to go gold, when superior acts like King’s X, Enuff Z’nuff or Lillian Axe struggled to find their place.
The Dan Reed Network is another one of those superior bands. I think their sound confused people and hence they were not easy to peg into one particular genre. They had a style that combined Prince-like funk, early Van Halen bravado and attitude and Bon Jovi’s gift for commercial bombast and wrapped it around a hair metal look that might have done more harm than good.
Co-producer Nile Rogers, once of hit makers Chic and the Power Station, helped to tweak these 13 songs to perfection, and in what is becoming a weekly cliché, should have been mined for hit after multi-platinum hit.
Though singles “Make It Easy,” “Tiger In A Dress” and “Come Back Baby” did moderately well across Europe, it was the amazing ballads “Rainbow Child” and “Lover” that elevated their status and allowed them to open stadium tours for Bon Jovi and the Rolling Stones in the UK. Yet here in the US, they never became anything more than a club level act. Criminal.
For me, those tunes were just scratching the surface as I thought the mid-tempo ballads “I’m Lonely, Please Stay” and “All My Lovin’” were about as sure fire #1 hits as I’ve ever heard. Same goes for mega-power ballad “Stronger Than Steel,” which coincidentally became mine and my wife’s wedding song. This album’s infectious melodies were only made stronger by the lyrical angle, which was so far above anything else out at the time. In all honesty, it’s an album like this that makes some of us the passionate and obsessive fans about music we become.
Since this release, the band went on to release another fantastic album in “The Heat” before breaking up. After a long spiritual journey, Dan finally released the solo “Coming Up For Air” last year and is well worth your time as well. Other members of the band would go on to play with Stevie Salas, Edgar Winter and En Vouge.
Over the years, I’ve casually gotten to know Dan as well as drummer Dan Pred and keyboardist Blake Sakamoto and am proud to call them friends. Even more so that they’ve recorded one of my favorite albums of all time in what should have made them a worldwide household name.
I asked Dan Reed to give me a few thoughts on the album:
“Most of Slam was written and demoed in the back of a bus as we toured the US and Europe in 1988. We are on the road with UB40 throughout the US, and on our first European tours. It was an exciting time for, seeing the world, and taking in all the different cultures, really witnessing we are world citizens and not just 'Americans'.
The recording process was even more interesting for we lived in New York City while recording for three months and working with Nile Rogers, famed for producing Duran Duran, Madonna and David Bowie, let alone his guitar work and writing for the band Chic, a group I grew up listening to as a kid in South Dakota.
It was the best of times for a young band just catching a glimpse of the music business.”
There are some albums that you just know from the very first crashing riff that it’s going to be something special.
Formed from the ashes of cult power pop bands Wanderlust and Bachelor #1, Feel was just one of those bands that, for a fleeting moment in time, released one of the most perfect power pop albums ever laid down. Not a note wasted, not a melody out of place. It’s crunchy when it needs to be, jangles otherwise and knows how to pace itself with the occasional introspection. It’s like the Foo Fighters decided to be as pop as they could be and enlisted the help of Paul McCartney circa “Band On The Run.”
What could have been a cross genre smash album sadly amounted to very little. Songs like the blistering “Won’t Stand In Your Way” and “Until They Close The World” could have ruled summer rock radio and beyond, while the more laid back “Under The Radar” and “Girl In A Raincoat” are the kinds of songs that these days are all over country radio. Throw in the sure-fire yet not quite hit “I Am The Summertime” and you’re left with an album that demanded repeat play.
I know Feel released a few more miscellaneous albums, EPs and tracks over the years and while all are pretty good, nothing came close to matching the punch and power of this set. Leader Scot Sax also wrote some songs for Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, but beyond that I know very little of what the band is up to lately. Shame really, because the staleness of the power pop scene could use a little kick in the ass right about now.
1987 - It was about this time in my life when I had two habits that were both essential to my life and ultimately, ridiculously expensive. First, my weekly fix of heading into the city (New York City that is) and haunting a dozen or so record stores where a $20 bill would let you walk out with about 19 brand new albums, all *cough cough* promo - not for sale *cough cough*. Secondly, my bi-weekly fix of reading what was then my musical bible, Kerrang! magazine. These two combined led me to amass close to 2000 albums over a very short period of time, most of which are those gems that have become AOR cult classics that outside of a small circle, very few even know exist.
Leading the way as a diamond in a very large rough is “Native Sons” by Strangeways. Headed by session vocalist Terry Brock, this is about as close to a Journey album as one can get without Perry, Schon and Cain performing it. Brock’s soaring vocals on a song like the mid-tempo never was hit “Only A Fool” only cement this fact and put him in a pretty small group of singers that to my ears can do no wrong.
But it’s all about the songs here, which still deliver almost 25 years on. Whether you’re looking to scratch that arena rock itch (with the driving “Where Do We Go From Here” or “Empty Streets”) or romanticize in the bombast of sentiment (the exceptionally written “Goodnight LA” or “Shake The Seven”), you’ll find it on what is a canvas of melodic perfection.
Research this one and you will find glowing reviews and high placings on almost every “best melodic rock” list around, including a #4 showing on Kerrang!’s all important fan voted best AOR of all time. All too often albums in this genre are tagged as “essential,” this is one of the times it’s every bit deserved.
The band would go on to record another exceptional album with Terry Brock, “Walk In The Fire,” before attempting one without him and calling it a day...until last year when they reunited for the Eagles-sounding “Perfect World.” Brock in the meantime has recorded a few solid solo albums as well as handling lead vocals on the last album from Giant.
In the early 2000’s, for a genre as dead as melodic rock (or AOR, hard rock or whatever else you want to call it), there were a fair amount of great albums released then that no one, save a small yet devoted following, would ever know about. A lot of them would find homes on many of the various European specialty labels at the time, and seemingly the cream of the crop was German house MTM. To go it one further, the cream of the MTM crop was this release from Loud & Clear.
The trio, hard rock at their core, took many cues from the sounds of the day and released an album vibrant, fresh and ultimately ignored. Using Van Halen like riffs, Def Leppard shout along bombast and boy band pop melodies, the album has a very familiar feeling from first listen. Yet, its repeated listens where gems like “Fly Away,” “Time To Let Go” and “Lovers In The Night” really begin to shine as the hits that could, nay should have been. This is all compounded by the fact that the boys can play and sing with the best of them.
With anthems like “Tell Me Why” or “When I Feel Like That” it’s so easy to reach for the volume knob and push it past any sort of healthy levels, especially when the weather is warm and sunny.
Sometimes when I sit back and think about the disc I am listening to for this column, it just boggles the mind that most are 10 years or older. As time has progressed, technology has gotten more and more in the way, yet here was a release that used it to its advantage. Some synths here, some purposeful auto-tune there and it still sounds contemporary and special.
Amazingly, this band seemed to be nothing more than a hobby as lead singer Jess Harnell has a nice day job as one of the premier voices for animation, television and film (including key parts in Animaniacs, America’s Funniest Home Videos and the Transformer movies). Lead guitarist Chuck Duran is also big in the voice over department while drummer Alex Track is a well known audio engineer, winning a Grammy in 2006 for his work.
Together, the band continues as hard rock mash up specialists Rock Sugar, who released a rather wicked covers disc “Re-Imaginator” in 2010 and tours incessantly to packed houses wherever they play.
Growing up in the mid to late 70s, and looking back now, I really had two bands that I would count as favorites of that era: Queen and the Electric Light Orchestra. In fact, I remember saving all my miscellaneous change and taking it down to the record store in the Styretown Shopping Center in Clifton, NJ to buy ELO’s “Out Of The Blue” set. As a pop minded 11 year old though, I don’t think I ever got past side A of record one until at least 15 years later. And as the late 70s become the 80s, my musical mind eventually turned to heavier and more riffier fare, leaving the orchestral grooves of ELO far behind.
Sometime in the 90s, as I discovered bands like Jellyfish, I also rediscovered my love of ELO and started to go beyond the hits. Though I would rank their 1979 effort “Discovery” as one of my all time favorites, I can now find the genius in not only their 80s discs but even the “Xanadu” soundtrack. I also discovered the rather tasty discs from the Electric Light Orchestra Part 2 offshoot as well as the next progression, The Orchestra.
Containing members of both versions of the band as well as a few “new guys,” this set is a proud and worthy addition to the band’s legacy. Recorded strictly on the band’s own dime, but you’d never know it as all the ELO trademarks are there, from big bouncy choruses and huge orchestrations to the almost Beatlesque layering of tracks, it sounds like a million bucks. Even though there’s no involvement from Jeff Lynne (other than some legal action!), you can even hear traces of his production stylings with George Harrison and The Traveling Wilburys.
Songwise, it’s so easy to press repeat of tracks like “Jewel & Johnny,” “Can’t Wait To See You” or “I Could Write A Book.” They have a very upbeat 70s pop feel without sounding like it’s completely stuck in the past. And with an epic like “Over London Skies,” it’s frankly about as close to the ELO sound as anyone could get without involving Jeff Lynne.
Judging by my personal enjoyment of this disc as well as the sold out crowds the band is still playing too, I’d say there’s still something of a market for grandiose pop and roll. With the addition of ex-Styx man Glen Burtnick and a never ending tour, I’m hoping chances are good that a new album will eventually see the light of day.
As the over the top decade of excess known as the 80s came to an end, the swelling undercurrent of the “unplugged” movement started to take hold. Suddenly, “every bad boy had a soft side.” Bands like Bon Jovi, Great White and Poison were all getting an extra boost by picking up their acoustics and gaining some new fans. Though the trend didn’t last long, we were fortunately left with some gems of the genre, including this superb effort from New Jersey’s Mr. Reality.
This album is almost 20 years old, and until this week, I haven’t listened to it in probably a decade. This set though is proof that solid song structure, amazing harmonies and catchy melodies are timeless.
It would be all too easy to dismiss this trio as Bon Jovi wannabe’s, as they follow the typical Jersey-style songwriting, which is big on storytelling and sweet as candy choruses, but I’d probably compare them closer to Nelson, Danny Wilde/The Rembrandts or even the Eagles (not surprising considering this was produced by famed LA producer/Don Henley sideman Danny Korchmar).
How songs like the upbeat and incredibly infectious “Anonymous,” “If I Close My Eyes” or “Jess” weren’t at least small market radio hits is beyond me. Throw in more introspective fare, like the excellent imagery of “In My Yard” or the down but never out tale of “To Leave Me Standing In The Rain” and I’m left more befuddled that this barely rates as a cult classic.
And, it would be absolutely criminal to not mention the rocking “Waiting For September,” about as sure of a hit as I’ve ever heard and sounds like it was lifted from a lost Night Ranger album.
The band would morph over the years, first into Samhill and eventually into Highway 9, whose debut also ranks as one of the “Best Albums You Never Heard.” Seems like all three are still somewhat active in music, with guitarist Gordon Brown going Nashville while vocalist Peter Scherer and bassist Rob Tanico still plugging away in their own ways.
One of the secret joys about being a parent is being able to watch kids shows without any feelings of guilt whatsoever. One show that my boys watch over and over is Nickelodeon’s Drake & Josh, and I’m there with them every time. Just puts me in the mind of an 80s sitcom, a genre sadly missing from the television these days.
We bought this disc as a gift for my youngest and he would play it night and day, loudly. But, I sure as hell took notice because this was far from what I expected it would be. Obviously the boy was raised right musically because it would have been all too easy for him to release some over processed, auto-tuned mess rather than this power pop blast of goodness.
Seemingly inspired by Jellyfish, Paul McCartney and Cheap Trick, it’s standard three chord rock that far exceeds any sort of expectations. Not that I’m complaining, because it’s so easy to hit repeat on a track like the riffy and oh-so-hit-worthy title track, which not only reaches for the rafters but proceeds to blow the roof off. The same could be said for the sunny day 70s pop of “Makes Me Happy” or the acoustic take of the Drake & Josh theme song “I Found A Way” which continue this poptastic streak.
But, it’s songs like the vaudevillian opener “Up Periscope,” the pure piano pop of “I Know” or the deep Beatlesque “Fool The World” that elevate this far above typical teen idol fare.
On the musical front, Drake has been awfully quiet other than some live shows (where he actually covers Jellyfish’s “Joining A Fan Club” and nails it). I heard a new track from an album that’s been forever due and though it has an almost industrial touch shows a lot of promise and still very much in the power pop world.
