MARK FREE - Hidden Treasures Vol.9 'The Extra Mile'

Last volume of this awesome recording collection by the gifted M. Free.
"(To Be) The Best Of The Best" from the soundtrack of the movie 'Best Of The Best II' isn't an unreleased track, but was requested to be included by some readers. This is the full version with the orchestrated intro.
There's also a pre-Signal demo for the band/project 'The Game' featuring Free on vocals, a couple of rare Unruly Child lost tracks like the obscure "Words Get Lost Again", and some recordings for the songwriting team Paress - Cuomo.
"Hypnotized" is a very, very early '80s demo (that I should have included in Vol. 6), and tracks 10 to 13 are pretty rare, to my knowledge, never seen into other compilations of this great artist.

Vol.9 it's the only one on my own; song selection, tape cleaning, editing & artwork.
Again, thanks to Plattenpapst & Giles (just readers and music lovers like you) for their inestimable contribution on previous volumes.
It has been a pleasure to work on these tapes to get the best audio quality possible, and share them with all of you.





MARK FREE - Hidden Treasures Vol.9 NEW LINK

MARK FREE - Hidden Treasures Vol.8 'Studio Session B'

More M. Free sessions.
Comprising great AOR tracks like "Waiting For You", "State Of Mind", "Two Hearts", poppy tunes ("Union Of The Soul", "World Of Wonder", "So Close, Yet So Far"), beautiful ballads as "You Make Me Feel Brand New", "Wishing You Could Be With Me", several 'Signal era' songs and some pretty old and good material ("Superhero", "Angel In Chains")
Most of them with really good sound quality.

Thanks again to Giles Lavery for some song contribution.
Tape cleaning, enhancing, editing & artwork by me.
Last volume, # 9; 'The Extra Mile', including rarely seen demos, coming up very soon...





MARK FREE - Hidden Treasures Vol.8 - option1

MARK FREE - Hidden Treasures Vol.8 - option 2
.

RICK SPRINGFIELD - Christmas With You (2007)

Requested on REQUEST & FILL CORNER 6, a special album by Rick Springfield for this holidays.
It covers Traditional Christmas classics with Rick's smooth voice, subtle backgrounds and warm ambience.

The title track 'Christmas With You' it's a Springfield original, written with Derek Hilland.
There are 2 instrumental songs in the disc as well, and they give this album a little something different.

Happy Holidays to All!
Grab it now, only for a few days...


01 - Christmas With You
02 - The First Noel
03 - Hark The Herald Angels Sing
04 - What Child Is This?
05 - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
06 - It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
07 - Away In A Manger
08 - O Come All Ye Faithful
09 - Carol Of The Bells
10 - Do You Hear What I Hear?
11 - I'll Be Home For Christmas
12 - Silent Night
13 - Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem
14 - I Saw Three Ships
15 - Deck The Halls (With Boughs Of Longboards)
16 - White Christmas [bonus track]



HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

MARK FREE - Hidden Treasures Vol.7 'Studio Session A'

Another M. Free 'extra' volume.
This one easily could be the best of all, not only for the quality of the songs but also the excellent sound.
I've enhanced and cleaned these tapes with patience and love, and let me tell you, most of them sound like pre-production demos or finished pro / ready-to-be-released material.

Besides, these songs are amongst the most difficult to find between the extensive Free's session recordings.
Added a new version of "Secrets", with much better quality than the one included in Vol.1.
Thanks again Mr. Giles Lavery for your contribution.
Tape cleaning, enhancing, editing & artwork by me.
Vol 8, 'Studio Session B', coming soon...






MARK FREE - Hidden Treasures Vol.7

MARK FREE - Hidden Treasures Vol.6 'The Early Years'

I was finishing my own Mark / Marcie Free compilation (apart from the Plattenpapst series) when another reader of the blog contacted me.
He wants to share with us all his private collection of hard to find M. Free stuff.
Giles Lavery (that's his name) from Australia, gently sent me a great bunch of rare tracks only available long time ago on Free's website; her personal 'Vault'.

Half of the tracks in this new volume comes from Giles, including very early Marcie recordings, and some of the awesome jingle ads she did in the '80s. All with quite good sound.
I've cleaned, edited and de-noised when needed to get the best audio quality possible.
Myself made artwork following the 'Plattenpapst standards' to make these series homogeneous.
Don't miss this, it's a great one. Thanks Giles!
At least 3 volumes (with more rarities) in the making... coming soon.





MARK FREE - Hidden Treasures Vol.6

MARK FREE - Hidden Treasures Vol.5 'For Fans Only'

Final installment of Mark Free by Plattenpapst.
This one is basically the "12 lb Sledge" demos.
According to Plattenpapst:
" In 1993 Unruly Child, after losing their record deal with their label, had reformed under the moniker "Twelve Pound Sledge" and were writing new material in hopes of resigning with another U.S. label.
That never happened, and those songs from that writing session were released in 1996 as a solo album on independent labels in Germany and Japan, entitled Marcie Free "Tormented".
These are the original demos. "

Also included are some of the '80s recordings by Mark to songwriters Mark Baker, Barlow/Minto and as part of the 'Denver Project' ("Turn Your Head Around" was for the band Arrival)
Artwork, tracklist and song selection by Plattenpapst.
Cleaning, edition and de-noising by me.





MARK FREE - Hidden Treasures Vol.5

MARK FREE - Hidden Treasures Vol.4 'The Pop Collection'

This 4th volume compiles the Pop oriented tracks by Mark the sessionist.
Actually, you can smell some AORish scent on many tracks, like opener "Dancing On The Edge" or "I've Heard Everything Now"
But "Arms Of Love", "Arms Of Love" or "Everywhere I Turn" to name a few, are truly poppy.

I've added 6 extra songs to the compilation originally made by Plattenpapst, to offer a more meaty volume, including the awesome AOR tune "Cry Of Passion" requested on the chat box.
1 hour of pretty rare Mark Free recordings.
Artwork, tracklist and song selection by Plattenpapst & me.
Vol.5 : 'For Fans..', coming soon...





MARK FREE - Hidden Treasures Vol.4


Mirror: MARK FREE - Hidden Treasures Vol.4
.

MARK FREE - Hidden Treasures Vol.3 'The Ballads Collection'

Vol.3 featuring a beautiful selection of Ballads, like the awesome midtempo "One Heartbeat" written by the mighty duo Judithe and Robin Randall, later recorded by VENUS & MARS for their 2nd album 'New Moon Rising' (already posted in this blog).
"The Night Has A Way" was penned by David Tyson and Christopher Ward, producers and songwriters for Alannah Miles. One of Mark Free favorites on his own words. This great tune was recorded later by NIGHT RANGER and GARY MOON for his solo album (posted here as well).
"If You Give Your Heart" is one of my personal favs, almost a lullaby song.
On "I Wish Was There With You", Mark sounds like John Waite, while "Hopelessly Lost" is a monster AOR tune.

Many tracks originally had a very low signal and lots of tape hiss noise, I've tried to enhance Mark's vocals to the maximum.
Artwork, tracklist and song selection by Plattenpapst.
Vol.4 : 'The Pop Collection', coming soon...





MARK FREE - Hidden Treasures Vol.3

MARK FREE - Hidden Treasures Vol.2 "The Arkenstone demo + Live"

This 2nd volume includes the never released recordings with New Age musician David Arkenstone plus some live tracks.
By this time, Arkenstone was experimenting with new tech tools to make music.
For this material, Pomp AOR oriented and fantasy themed, David hired the then unknown jingle-session man Mark Free to do the vocalizations. To my knowledge, these are Free's first professional recordings.

Particularly interesting are the bootleg live tracks with King Kobra, to clearly appreciate how powerfully Mark Free used to perform onstage. Just check the second half of 'Piece Of The Rock'.
I've done a pretty good job 'remastering' these tapes considering the source quality. I am very satisfied with the result.
Artwork, tracklist and song selection by Plattenpapst.
Vol.3 : 'The Ballads Collection', coming soon...





MARK FREE - Hidden Treasures Vol.2

MARK FREE - Hidden Treasures Vol.1 "The AOR Collection"

Needless to describe MARK / MARCIE FREE pedigree.
An AOR icon, ex - King Kobra, Signal and now with the revamped Unruly Child.
During his / her career has spent a lot of time singing demos for various songwriters and artists in the music industry.

An active reader and contributor to this site, Mr. Plattenpapst from Germany, had the idea to compile the most significant Free's recordings into various volumes to share them with you all.
There will be 5 Volumes separated by genre, spanning all '80s / '90s works by Mark Free as session vocalist.
Only unreleased material, not the officially released (like 'Unruly Child - Basement Demos', for example)

Vol.1 is about the AOR recordings.
Most of these tracks were recorded at the time between Mark left King Kobra and formed Signal: '87/ '88 / '89.
Free was working as a driver for a courier service in L.A. and in the meantime he met songwriters Judithe and Robin Randall.
Once they hired Mark to sing their demos, they started telling all their other writer friends in California about his vocal duties and the phone started ringing.
"I needed the money really bad so I started singing demos for people. It really helped me to develop further my ability to sing in the studio and I was being paid for it", says Mark.

All the songs in this volume demonstrates the diversity, ductility and amplitude of Mark Free as performer.
You can hear also on some tracks Robin Randall's (and even Diana DeWitt) backing vocals.
"Your Wild Ways" was the first song Mark Free ever sang for the canadian songwriting team David Tyson / Christopher Ward.

Plattenpapst did the artwork, tracklist and song selection.
I just cleaned, edited and de-noised the tracks.
Hope you enjoy this 'joint-venture'.
Vol.2 : 'The Arkenstone demos', coming soon...






MARK FREE - Hidden Treasures Vol.1

ZEROp - From Zero, To Hero + Zeroplugged (1995)

Time for the harder side of this blog.
Italian guitar hero Angi Schiliro, established in Switzerland, is known as former member of KINGDOM COME, PAGANINI, STORMBRINGER, and as songwriter for KROKUS, CHINA and other Swiss bands as well.
Also for his solo albums 'White Lady I & II', excellent pieces of powerful and stylized instrumental rock.
But Angi's most ambitious act was ZEROp, a hard / melodic rock band with international projection.
With his brother Claudio Schiliro as vocalist, the band was ready to conquer the world, but unfortunately the dream was suddenly truncated by a terrible car accident, which put Claudio out of action for years.

Their Self-Titled one and only effort, also known as "From Zero, To Hero", is one of the best hard rock albums coming out of Europe during the '90s and years to come.
This CD SMOKES!
Sounding like a mix of FAIR WARNING, JADED HEART and American classic Hard Rock bands, with a flawless musicianship, big hooks and first class production, this disc has all to be a real winner.
The guitar work is just sensational, massive killer razor riffs & solos but clean & polished with tons of harmonies.
Claudio Schiliro vocals are powerful, yet sweet in the ballady, and the rhythm section blast the speakers with a monster sound.

And the songs... phenomenal if we talk about melodious hard rock.
'Zerock' is catchy and very americanized, 'Last Of The Teenage Idol' in a VAN HALEN style, 'Waiting For Your Love' like the first EXTREME but much much bigger.
'Cryin' Out for Mercy' (co-written with the great Mervyn Spence of O'RYAN / FACE FACE fame) is a terrific melodic rocker sounding like a WHITESNAKE 1987 tune. Just Great!
'The One And Only' seems a track off JADED HEART's debut, a melodic hard rock perfection from start to finish.
The beautiful mid-tempo 'Breathless' features fantastic arrangements, and 'Billy Boy' is a freight train ala Mr.BIG (guitars galore).
The ballads are awesome too, 'No Time For Lyin', 'Eternally Yours' (love this tune) and 'I Still Want You'.

"From Zero, To Hero" was reissued in 2005 but the mastering job is terrible.
This is a rip from the hard to find original release 'Limited Edition' (sounds great) which includes a bonus CD featuring acoustic versions and a non album track. Full artwork / lyrics (12 scans) in the file.
Do yourself a favor: don't miss this killer album, and crank it to 10.
Highly Recommended


01 - Zerock
02 - Last Of The Teenage Idol
03 - Waiting For Your Love
04 - Cryin' Out For Mercy
05 - No Time For Lyin'
06 - Space Shuffle
07 - The One And Only
08 - Breathless
09 - Billy Boy
10 - Eternally Yours
11 - I Still Want You
12 - Is This The End

Bonus CD:


1/3 - Cryin' Out For Mercy (acoustic)
2/3 - Johnny's On The Run (acoustic) *
3/3 - Eternally Yours (acoustic)

* non album track


Claudio Schiliro - Vocals
Angi Schiliro - Guitars, Backing Vocals
David Pisano - Keyboards
Enzo Butta - Bass
Diego Rapacchietti - Drums, Percussion



ZEROp - From Zero, To Hero + Zeroplugged
.

ERIC RUSSELL - Personal (1993)

Requested by my friend Nitderock...

Olivier Constantin is a talented french vocalist who has worked with all the major european pop stars as backing vocalist.
His debut album "Personal" was published only in Japan under the pseudonym of ERIC RUSSELL.
Apparently, his Japanese label preferred a more anglo-american name for this AOR release, as the performers from this origin were very popular in Asia at that time.
"Personal" is considered the best westcoast / AOR album sung in english ever recorded by a french artist.
Eric / Olivier's voice is warm and captivating, sounding absolutely american, with a perfect diction.

The album opens with the short beautiful piano ballad (strange things of the Asian market) 'Song To Chloe', followed by a sweet westcoast midtempo tune; 'Never Be Mine'.
'In The Middle Of The Day' it's a very calm tune that reminds me the best Michael McDonald. This song has refined arrangements and the songwriting is perfect.
'Shining' scatters a wonderful Lite AOR / pop with a charming pre-chorus and a sticky main chorus enriched by very nice female backing vocals.
The uptempo ballad 'Nobody Knows' has tons of class and again, superb songwriting.

'Someday Somehow' is the star of this recording, a killer classic uptempo AOR melody with a chorus to die for. This kind of songs is the reason why I love this genre...
'Don't Waste Your Time' is a lovely wimpy american ballad, 'Don't Slow Down' a catchy rhythmic poppy AOR and 'Mona Liza' it's wrapped with a very nice aura, a song much in the Paul Janz style.

Constantin managed to release this album in Germany (with european distribution) 2 years later under his real name Olivier Constantin, with a completely different tracklist.
Two songs were replaced (one of them, the best of all: 'Someday Somehow' !!!) with 2 new recordings.

"Personal" is a ridiculously good album on all aspects; great songwriting, excellent musicianship and first class production.
It's incredible that is not better known in the AOR world.
Tie & Jacket AOR / Westcoast, with lots of class and style in the best American - Canadian tradition.
Out Of Print.
Highly Recommended


01 - Song To Chloe
02 - Never Be Mine
03 - In The Middle Of The Day
04 - Shining
05 - Nobody Knows
06 - Someday Somehow
07 - Don't Waste Your Time
08 - Don't Slow Down
09 - Mona Liza
10 - Serenade


Eric Russell : Lead Vocals, Background Vocals
Jean Marc Alexandre, Franck Pilan, Kamil Rustam : Guitars
Thierry Durbet : Keyboards, Synths, Programming
Mario Santangeli : Hammond B3
Arnaud Aubaille : Piano
Dominique Grimaldi : Bass
Yves Sanna : Drums
Virginie Constantin, Mimi Felixine, Natacha Gerardin & Mario Santangeli : Background Vocals
Produced by Laurent Blancon






EXCELLENT AOR

REQUEST & FILL CORNER 6

From now, all request & fills goes in this post Comments.
If you need an album or a single track, request it here, if you have it, be kind with other readers, upload the file and post the link here as well.
Access to this page will be placed at the right column →
("CLICK HERE" neon sign, or clicking here in Comments)-
It will be opened in a new window.

Check this section regularly.
You'll find many links uploaded by readers, not present in the main blog...

Help each other people!



and don't forget to check out ARCHIVES:

ARCHIVES PART 1

ARCHIVES PART 2

ARCHIVES PART 3

ARCHIVES PART 4

ARCHIVES PART 5

take a deep look at the end of each part...

KING OF HEARTS - ST 1989 (1999)

Requested by my friend Juba...

The group KING OF HEARTS born during Richard Marx's "Repeat Offender" recording sessions in 1988.
In fact, this is a duo comprising the talents of multi-platinum songwriter, guitarist, producer, engineer Bruce Gaitsch (Richard Marx, Chicago, Michael Bolton) and Tommy 'the-angels-voice-like-no-other-on-the-face-of-earth' Funderburk, supported by a dream team: Kelly Keagy (Night Ranger) on drums and vocals, George Hawkins (Kenny Loggins band) on bass, Bill Champlin (need to say!) on keyboards and vocals and more.

KING OF HEARTS has released 4 albums, all in Japan, Sweden and Germany only.
Particularly this one, their debut, recorded for a major US label in 1989 but rejected, never was published until 1999 by a japanese small company.
And what a gem it is.
Marketed erroneously as a westcoast album (although contains some tracks in this style and vibe), this is pure AOR guys.
Not the swirling-keyboard type, just pure American AOR. And rocks.

I can't highlight one track, all are really good. But 'Remember Me' ... OMG... super-duper first class AOR tune.
Tommy shines everywhere and Gaitsch guitar work is perfect (there's rumors that master Jay Graydon also play guitar, uncredited).
Attention Nigh Ranger fans, many of you do not know the fact that Kelly Keagy did lead vocals here on 'Smack Dab', 'Under The Gun' and 'Was It Good For You', and in 'Everyday' with Funderburk.
No fillers in sight, great song after great song, superb musicianship, terrific songwriting and top notch production.

This request was easy to fill because KING OF HEARTS is one of my favorites AOR acts ever. Yes, it's that GOOD.
High quality rip with scans.
A MUST HAVE, no self-respecting AOR fan should be without it.


01 - Working Man
02 - In So Many Words
03 - Don't Call My Name
04 - Smack Dab
05 - Remember When
06 - Hold On To Love
07 - Under The Gun
08 - Lovin' Arms
09 - Was It Good For You
10 - Everyday
11 - King Of Hearts


Tommy Funderburk: Vocals
Bruce Gaitsch: Guitars
Kelly Keagy: Drums, Vocals
George Hawkins: Bass, Vocals
Additional Musicians:
CJ Vanston: Keyboards
Bill Champlin: Hammond B3, Vocals
Timothy Schmit and Randy Meisner: Backing Vocals

Produced by David Cole & Bruce Gaitsch


A MUST HAVE

ICON - An Even More Perfect Union (1987-95)

What can I say about ICON?
One of my Top 25 bands of the '80s, and their fantastic 2nd album "Night Of The Crime", The Greatest Melodic Hard AOR Album Of All Time ever, my #1 favourite.

When the awesome lead vocalist Steve Clifford quit the band after the recording of NOTC, the group auditioned hundreds of potential singers looking for the right replacement.
Jerry Harrison was chosen, the new ICON then showcased for their label in an effort to persuade them that they were ready to continue. But the company drop the band.
Without a deal, ICON set about resurrecting their career.
Choosing a different musical approach, the group then took it upon themselves to self finance their third album.

Recorded in their native Arizona and produced by leader Dan Wexler, "More Perfect Union" was self released locally on cassette only, containing 10 tracks.
Its intention was introduce the new members and melodic style to the fans and re-establish them for hopes of being signed with a new label.
Thanks to the action of a rabid fan group, this 'lost' ICON album was properly released on CD for the first time in 1995, re-entitled "An Even More Perfect Union" including 7 previously unreleased tracks: 4 songs from the same recording sessions not included in the cassette, 2 songs written in preparation for their third major label release ("Right Between The Eyes" 1989) and a melodic rocking version of the classic christmas song "Little Drummer Boy" recorded around 1988.

"More Perfect Union" was the natural evolution of this kind of bands circa '86-'88: melodic rock / AOR, radio-friendly tunes, with great catchy melodies and polished sound. You may like ICON or not but you can't argue that they have done the same record twice.
Full of persistent keys courtesy of the new keyboardist Kevin Stroller, this album has a really good production for an indie, and the '95 remaster job from the old tapes by Steve Escallier (who originally produced and engineered the album with Wexler) is more than satisfactory.
I can't recommend one track, all are good, I am a sucker for this style and for this band.

"An Even More Perfect Union" was pressed in limited quantities, each one signed and numbered, and now fetches extremely high prices at auction sites.
There's also an unauthorized 2 on 1 CD (together with "Night Of The Crime") but due to the lack of physical CD space only features 12 tracks.
Recently (2009) a second reissue was released by a small label, also a fairly limited edition, and has become pretty scarce too.
This is a copy at maximum quality of the original '95 numbered press CD, including FULL artwork.
More than Highly Recommended; Mandatory Download


01 - In Your Eyes
02 - Local Heroes
03 - One Step Behind
04 - Walk Away
05 - Forever Young
06 - Lost Love
07 - Eyes Of The Prisoner
08 - Better Left Unsaid
09 - Left To be Alone
10 - Hold On
11 - Way Back To My Heart (prev. unreleased)
12 - Stranger Things (prev. unreleased)
13 - Strong Love (prev. unreleased)
14 - Second Hand People (prev. unreleased)
15 - Sweet Young Sinner (bonus track)
16 - Gold Bullets (bonus track)
17 - Little Drummer Boy (bonus track)


JERRY HARRISON: Vocals
DAN WEXLER: Guitars
TRACY WALLACH: Bass
PAT DIXON: Drums
KEVIN STROLLER: Digital & Analog Syntesizers
JOHN AQUILINO: Additional Guitars


A MUST HAVE ICON
.

TYCOON - Turn Out The Lights (1981) remastered

TYCOON was a New York based band formed by vocalist Norman Mershon and multi-instumentalist Mark Kreider.

The duo recruited some well known session musicians and released a self titled album in the late '70s which made a modest hit in the charts.

Two years after, the group took a completely different approach to their second effort "Turn Out The Lights": AOR was starting to rule the airwaves.

With the polished and expert production of Vini Poncia (Adrenalin, Kiss) and the always effective guitars by Bobby Messano (Joe Lynn Turner, Fiona, Martee LeBow, Franke And The Knockouts) Norman Mershon

offers in this recording all his vocal abilities and tasteful tone.

'One More Try' is a moody syncopated westcoast tune, followed by the superb pure classy AOR 'Walkin' The Line', in the vein of BALANCE debut.

'Hang On In' is a totally eighties melody and you can hear the typically "Poncia touch" here.

'Love You Till It Hurts' seems to be recorded by TOTO, one of the highlights here.

'Let It Down' is a sweet commercial ballad, 'This Island Earth' features a curious arrangement during the verses and 'C'mon Over' is simple but catchy.

The title track 'Turn Out The Lights' has a candy-floss piano very TOTO's Hold The Line, also remembers me a Little River Band tune. A really good one.

Regarded as a true and obscure AOR gem by many fans, this album is criminally ignored on almost every Classic AOR list.

Maybe it does not reach the cult status, but it's a great record that failed to sold well and rank in the charts due to the label lack of promotion.

This is a rip from the Renaissance 2 in 1 remastered CD release, featuring their self titled debut and "Turn Out The Lights", which tracklist has been changed (I think it works better than the original) plus 2 extra tracks added: 'Yes Men' and 'Over My Head'.

As said, a very good album, well respected by serious AOR connoisseurs.

At this point, maybe you're tired by my repetitive footprint notes from my last posts : 'Highly Recommended'... I mostly share with you albums that I like a lot (except some requests) or consider worth to investigate, and this one fits that rule, hence... ;

Highly Recommended

01 - One More Try

02 - Walkin' The Line

03 - Can't Take That Away

04 - Hang On In

05 - Love You Till It Hurts

06 - Call The Police

07 - Yes Men

08 - Let It Down

09 - This Island Earth

10 - C'mon Over

11 - Over My Head

12 - Turn Out The Lights

Norman Mershon - vocals

Mark Kreider - bass, vocals

Bobby Messano - guitars, vocals

Jon Gordon - guitars, vocals

Keith Taylor, Michael Fonfara - keyboards

Mark Rivera - sax, vocals

Mike Braun - drums

TYCOON... UNKNOWN AND GOOD

PARBER & KERSTEIN - Stories From The Heart (1991)

Danish songwriters Jan Parber and Jes Kerstein teamed up with Morten Munch (former bassist of cult AOR heroes Skagarack) on the production duties, to release their one and only album "Stories From The Heart" in 1991.

These songs recorded throughout 1990 are heavily inspired and influenced by TOTO with the classic '80s scandi sound in the mix, it could be described as a light version of SKAGARACK combined with TOTO's rhythm / westcoast touches and GLASS TIGER on the hi-tech moments.

Opens with a climatic 'Intro' followed by a TOTOished pumping melodic rocker; "Keep On Waiting", featuring an interesting wall of vocals.

This is a distinctive aspect of this album: unusual background vocals/effects that makes it special.

"You Could Be The Last" is a great '80s flavored midtempo, "I'll Love You Forever" is the first ballad and what a song, I don't know why but remembers me ALIAS / FREDDY CURCI. Again, awesome layered vocals.

"Talk Too Much" seems taken from a 1983-84 american recording: poppy - AOR at its best.

"Love Don't Come Easy" is up next, a killer midtempo AOR that sounds a lot like SKAGARACK with nice keyboards. A really good one.

"Open Up Your Heart" is the 2nd ballad, much more relaxed than the previous, featuring a great power guitar solo.

"The World Keeps On Turning" is like a missing STRANGEWAYS track from the late 80's while "Give It From The Heart" is simple but effective, although I don't like the drum sound here.

"In Your Eyes" is another monster midtempo like DARE '88, great songwriting!

"Angel", another wonderful ballad a la SKAGARACK closes the disc.

This highly sought-after CD was rightly reissued in 2001 with a bonus track; "Once In A Lifetime" the official song for the Trialthon World Championship Games 2001, a bit different to the rest, an anthem-epic style tune, sung by ex Skagarack vocalist Tommy Rasmussen and composed by Parber & Kerstein together with british guitarist Ashly Mulford who had made himself a career with SAD CAFE and Mike & The Mecanics.

But this is a rip from the original 1991 press which sounds much better in my opinion.

I've added "Once In A Lifetime" anyway, and to make it more interesting, the only other song performed and recorded by this band; "Drømmer Om Dig" (Dreamin' Of You), for the 'Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2001' (the danish Eurovision Song Contest). This single was sung by Kenny Lübcke (ex Narita and Zozer Mez).

"Stories From The Heart" is a must for any AOR fan.

The song material is very, very good throughout the album, and it's hard to name favourites. Excellent artistic production / mix as well.

Highly Recommended

01 - Intro

02 - I Keep On Waiting

03 - You Could Be The Last

04 - I'll Love You Forever

05 - Talk Too Much

06 - Love Don't Come Easy

07 - Open Your Heart

08 - The World Keeps On Turning

09 - Give It From The Heart

10 - Moving In Circles

11 - In Your Eyes

12 - Angel

Bonus Tracks:

13 - Once In A Lifetime *

from official '"ITU Triathlon Championship" single

14 - Drømmer Om Dig (Dreams About You) +

from "Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2001"

Jan Parber: Vocals, Background Vocals, Keyboards

Jes Kerstein: Guitars, Keyboards

Morten Munch: Keyboards, Bass, Guitars, Bckgr Vocals

Tommy Rasmussen: Keyboards, Lead Vocals*, Bckgr Vocals

Carsten Kolster: Drums

Jan Kaspersen, Jesper Gruschy: Sax

Ole Hansen: Piano
Kenny Lübcke: Vocals +

Stories From The Heart + 1 (external link)

track 14 Drømmer Om Dig HERE

GOTTHARD - Dream Ballads

I have never been a big fan of this band.

But one of GOTTHARD's undoubted strengths is their ability to write quality, deep soulful power ballads featuring terrific chroruses.

Maybe you have not read the news, their frontman Steve Lee passed away last Tuesday in a traffic accident when he was fulfilling a life-long dream of driving around the U.S. on a Harley Davidson.

This is a humble tribute to the man: my favorite ballads.

If you have never listened to this group, try it now, you will not regret.

If you already know them, enjoy this collection.

R.I.P. Steve. -

01 - I'm On My Way

02 - Peace Of Mind

03 - One Life, One Soul

04 - Father Is That Enough?

05 - Say Goodbye

06 - Everything Can Change (piano version)

07 - All I Care For

08 - Let It Rain

09 - Someday

10 - He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother

11 - Heaven (radio version)

12 - Everything I Want

13 - Homerun (original version)

14 - Let It Be (Live)

15 - Angel (Live)

16 - Love Soul Matter (Live)

17 - Out On My Own (Live)

18 - And Then Goodbye

Steve Lee: Vocals

Leo Leoni : Guitars

Mandy Meyer : Guitars

Marc Lynn : Bass

Hena Habegger : Drums

artwork preview:

GOTTHARD - Dream Ballads

WHAT IF - What If (1987)

Requested in "Request & Fill Corner" section...

Tommy Funderburk has been one of the most hired main / background singers since the early 80's ; Airplay, Boston, Stan Bush, The Cult, Tim Feehan, Richard Marx, Van Stephenson, John Waite, Whitesnake and more and more...

Around 1983 Tommy met drummer Bob Wilson from the group SEAWIND, they formed THE FRONT and recorded a cool self titled album in '84 that was followed by a U.S / European tour in 1985.

By 1987 Funderburk and Bob Wilson reformed the band and brought in Larry Williams on keyboards and saxophone, changed name to WHAT IF and released this gem on a major label.

What can I say about this great album... I am Funderburk's unconditional fan.

His high multi-tone vocals, perfect modulation, turns into gold everything it touches. Tommy's performance here, as usual, is perfect.

"Perfect World" written by Glen Burtnik (and later recorded by ALIAS / Freddy Curci solo) is a winner of course, but there's much more on offer here.

Just listen "One Look" vocalization... WOW

"Ride The Hurricane" has an awesome guitar work and "Love Is A Fire" beats you with a killer tempo, even the sax is great and strong.

All tracks are outstanding and production First Class.

Add to the package the 'who is who' in the AOR session world: maestros Michael Landau and Dann Huff on guitars, Larry Klein (pumpin' bass sound!), Casey Young, Paulinho Da Costa, Bill Champlin, Bob Carlisle, etc.

Ripped from the japanese CD (brilliant sound) @ maximum quality.

Highly, Highly Recommended.

01 - What If

02 - If This Is Love

03 - Perfect World

04 - One Look

05 - Ride The Hurricane

06 - She Rocked The World

07 - Love Is A Fire

08 - When Right Is Wrong

09 - Turn And Walk Away

Tommy Funderburk : LEAD Vocals

Larry Williams : Keyboards, Sax

Bob Wilson : Drums

Michael Landau : Guitars

Dann Huff : Guitars

Jakko M. Jakszyk : Guitars

Larry Klein : Bass

Paulinho Da Costa : Percussion

Casey Young : Synthesizer

Eric Persing : Synth, Programming

Bill Champlin : Backing Vocals

Bob Carlisle : Backing Vocals

WHAT IF

thanks Lostryder for the re-up

JOURNEY - The Reissue Bonuses & More

Per request, JOURNEY bonus now.

All these tracks has been released before, some in not so easy to find albums, but all released in one way or another.

"Frontiers" adds:

11 - Only The Young (Vision Quest soundtrack)

12 - Ask The Lonely (Two Of Kind soundtrack)

13 - Liberty (non album track from Time³)

14 - Only Solutions (TRON soundtrack)

"Raised On Radio" adds:

12 - Girl Can't Help It [Live Video Mix]

13 - I'll Be Alright Without You [Live Video Mix]

"Departure" adds:

13 - Natural Thing (Don't Stop Believin' b-side)

14 - Little Girl (Dream After Dream soundtrack)

"Escape" adds:

11 - La Raza Del Sol (Still They Ride b-side)

12 - Don't Stop Believin' [Live In Houston 81]

13 - Who's Cryin' Now [Live In Houston 81]

14 - Open Arms [Live In Houston 81]

"Trial By Fire" adds:

16 - I Can See It In Your Eyes (orig. Japan bonus)

Extra tracks:

12 - I'm Not That Way (Arrival Japan Version)

ARRIVAL US and SACD editions doesn't include this song. Only appeared on the Japanese edition.

14 - To Be Alive Again

This is ARRIVAL japanese bonus track.

03 - Remember Me [Extended Version] (Remember Me single)

'Remember Me' was originally written and performed as part of the soundtrack for Armageddon. It was the first song that Steve Augeri performed as the new lead singer for the band... but this is the extended version, not the one present in the OST, only appeared (as far I know) in a rare 1998 US promotional film 5-track CDsingle.

Myself made artwork:

JOURNEY Bonuses NEW LINK

JOHN MILES BAND - Transition [Krescendo CD reissue] (1985)

Requested in "Request & Fill Corner" section...

By 1984, John Miles' career was stagnant.

Thanks to his friendship with Jimmy Page, he signed a contract with the subsidiary UK label (now defunct) "Valentino" for a new album.

Although John had initially considered producing himself, it was decided to use Trevor Rabin, (formerly of YES and composer of the music for the film 'Armageddon').

The band flew to L.A. and began to recording.

Unfortunately, due to Rabin's commitments, only two tracks were laid down but what tracks they were!

"Blinded" is truly an epic track. It starts ballady before getting heavier as it builds up to the chorus where John delivers the lyrics with plenty of gusto and emotion. The tune is extremely powerful and has a great guitar solo.

The second Rabin-produced track was "I Need Your Love". This song is a superb midtempo AOR ballad filled with beautiful keyboards.

John and co. returned to the UK and teamed up with Pat Moran at the Rockfield Studios in Wales. While Trevor’s production added a lot of sophistication, Moran allows the band to shine through without the interference of too much slick production.

The album was to be called "Transition", credited as "John Miles Band" acknowledging that it was very much a group effort. While John appeared on the front picture sleeve with dictionary style printing, a group picture appeared on the reverse.

"Transition" is a really good rock / AOR album, totally commercial '80s american-radio style.

Miles sings with passion, and the band sounds fabulously tight: Bob Marshall on bass and monster drummer Barriemore Barlow (Jimmy Page, Whitesnake, Yngwie Malmsteen).

And contains 'Blinded', one of the best spine-tingling ballads of all time.

It is a crime that never has been released on CD.

This is a rip from the unofficial CD edition by Krescendo bootleg label.

If you own "Transition" on vinyl, grab the file anyway, includes the bonus b-side & artwork, and it's ripped at maximum quality (320K).

Recommended.

01 - Once In Your Life

02 - Run

03 - Blinded

04 - You're The One

05 - I Need Your Love

06 - Hard Time

07 - Who Knows

08 - Don't Lie To Me

09 - Watching Over Me

10 - Good So Bad (Bonus Track, b-side)

John Miles: Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards

Barriemore Barlow: Drums, Percussion, Bckg Vocals

Bob Marshall: Bass, Guitars

Casey Young: Keyboards programming

Andy Thomas: Keyboards programming

Thanks Martin!

TRANSITION here

FAITHFULL - Light This City (2003)

Requested in "Request & Fill Corner" section...

FAITHFULL born in 2001 in Portugal by the hand of Rui Martins (guitars) and vocalist Sergio Sabino (ex - Evidence).
The first demo, including 13 songs, captured the attention of the sadly now defunct spanish record label Vinny Records.
Produced by Luis Barros (Tarantula), "Light This City" was released at the end of 2003 in Europe and Japan only.
The band gets surprised that the album quickly climb #11 in the Japanese "TOP50 Rock/HR/HM" chart.

"Light This City" is a melodic rock festival, nothing pretentious, just a trip back to the glorius days of fun, sing along tunes from the 1989-91 era.
Opener title track gives you the full picture: "Light This City, We're Dancin' This Saturday Night, Another Dancin' Smashin' Sleepless Night". Yeah!
The album sounds clean and punchy, like DANGER DANGER's Paul Laine era. In fact, Sergio Sabino is a blend of Jon Bon Jovi and Paul Laine, and sings without any accent at all.
But also the first HAREM SCAREM, BON JOVI, HARDLINE, FIREHOUSE, etc comes to mind.

Presenting a really cool mix of very well written catchy rockers with sweet ballads, sung / played cleanly and professionally produced, "Light This City" is maybe the best rockin' album arrived from Portugal so far.
Solid, consistent and enjoyable recording for fans of classic late 80's era melodic rock.
This is the original spanish label release. Added to the bunch the japanese bonus track "Cast Out The Rain".
GOOD stuff.


01 - Light This City
02 - There's No Turning Back
03 - All I Want, All I Need
04 - I've Been Missing You
05 - You Won't Get Me Now
06 - Ending Song
07 - Melting Your Ice
08 - Learned My Lesson
09 - Like A Shadow
10 - The Way I Am
11 - Way Back
12 - Please (European bonus)
13 - Cast Out The Rain (Japan bonus)


Sergio Sabino: Vocals
Rui Martins: Guitars
Nuno Ledesma: Bass, Backing Vocals
Sergio Ramos: Drums






FAITHFULL - Light This City

STEVE PERRY - The Reissue Bonuses & More

Steve Perry... don't need to spend a single word about his greatness.
I assume you already have his 2 solo albums (if not, what are you waiting for?)
But perhaps many don't own the reissues with the bonus pack.
Here they are, all of them, in all its glory (320K).

"For The Love Of Strange Medicine" adds:
* 12.If You Need Me, Call Me (from FTLOSM sessions. Re-recorded track of Perry's pre-Journey band, 'Alien Project').
* 13.One More Time (from FTLOSM sessions, outtake)
both tracks only appeared on 'You Better Wait +4' CDsingle, 1994.
* 14.Can't Stop (unreleased)
* 15.Friends Of Mine (unreleased)
both tracks from 'Against The Wall', the unfinished album recorded by Perry around '85-'86
* 16.Missing You [Live in San Francisco] (unreleased)

"Street Talk" adds:
* 11.My My My
* 12.Harmony
* 13.Makes No Difference
these 3 are demos from the unreleased 'Alien Project' sessions
* 14.Don't Tell Me Why You're Leaving ('Oh Sherrie' B-side)
* 15.If Only For The Moment Girl (from We Are The World)

To make it more meaty, I've added some extras:
* Don't Fight It [with Kenny Loggins] from Greatest Hits Expanded edition.
* Missing You [Writing Session version] from 'Missing You' CDsingle.
* You Better Wait [Single Version] from 'You Better Wait' CDsingle.
* I Stand Alone - from 'Quest For Camelot OST'
* A Brand New Start - from David Pack's 'The Secret Of Movin' On', beautiful duet, also co-written by Perry.
* Lost Angels [demo - For The Love Of Strange Medicine outtake]
* Let Go [demo - For The Love Of Strange Medicine outtake]
* Let It Rock You [rare demo, unknown session]
* Something To Hide [very rare old demo taken from Perry's old website]

All interesting tracks to appreciate the incredible 'evolution' of JOURNEY's one and only singer.
Specially the demos are pretty rare, I haven't seen 'Something To Hide' nowhere. The song is terrible, but listen the young Steve testing his falsetto...

Myself made artwork, click on the picture to preview:





STEVE PERRY Bonuses

HEARTLAND - Move On [Japan release] (2005)

Requested in "Request & Fill Corner" section...

For those unfamiliar with HEARTLAND, this UK band formed by ex VIRGINIA WOLF vocalist Chris Ousey debuted in 1991 with their self titled AOR classic.
By the 3rd disc, monster guitarist / producer Steve Morris (EXPORT, SHADOWMAN) joins the band and since then they have released 8 albums together.
HEARTLAND has never really made a bad album but "Move On" is their best in my opinion on par with the debut. While the "ST" was a pure AOR - rock gem, this one is a perfect blend of furious melodic rock with classic AOR.
Ousey / Morris have written the best pack of songs since they're working as a team, guitars are sharp and big, production is tougher and tighter than ever, and the mix, done by Tommy Hansen (SKAGARACK, PRETTY MAIDS) in Denmark, is awesome.

In the japanese release tracklist is different, and I think the album works better.
"City Of Lights" starts with a rippin' guitar, and then big drums and powerful vocals. The song has a terrific chorus with huge backing vocals.
This is a high point on this recording, vocals are layered more than ever before in any Heartland album, the band took a special care into this department hiring a specialized vocal producer (Anders Rydhom) to this matter.
"Too Sad To Cry" is a high quality rockin' AOR and "Hell Or High Water" a moody midtempo with acoustic guitars, both in the vein the band's earlier albums.

Rocking hard again, "Hard Hearted Man" features a killer axe work, and Chris Ousey sounding like Mr. Big's Eric Martin here. Another monster chorus.
Now again a beautiful uptempo AOR : "Where Do We Go From Here", a keyboard dominated track in the true Heartland tradition, reminiscent of VIRGINIA WOLF albums or even JOURNEY.
"Getting Ready" is another highlight, classy british AOR sound, reminds me the bands CHANGE OF HEART and GRAND ILLUSION (vocalist from the latter, Peter Sundell, did backing vocals here).
"How Was I To Know" is a true AOR power ballad, Ousey shines here.
Instrumental "Redemption" may sound out of place, but it's a nice break, and you can note Morris' diversity playing this melody. He's really, really good with the 6 strings.
"Remember Me?" has tons of energy and a big wall of guitars.

As said, the overall sound is brillant, crisp, huge, and the band delivers some memorable choruses and enough hooks to keep you rocking.
One (if not the) best album of 2005 in this genre.
Recommended.


01 - City Of Lights
02 - Too Sad To Cry
03 - Hell Or High Water
04 - Hard Hearted Man
05 - Where Do We Go From Here
06 - One Fine Day
07 - Getting Ready
08 - How Was I To Know
09 - Take Me Alive
10 - Redemption (instrumental)
11 - Remember Me?
12 - Rotate (hidden track)


Produced & recorded by Steve Morris
Vocals produced & recorded by Anders Rydhom

Chris Ousey: vocals
Steve Morris: guitar, keyboards
Mathias Gregersen: bass
Rasmus Duedahl: drums
Additional Musicians;
Bjarne T. Holm: drums on "Getting Ready"
Peter Sundell & Per Svensson (Grand Illusion): backing vocals



HEARTLAND ROCKS