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
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
MARK FREE - Hidden Treasures Vol.9 'The Extra Mile'
Published by Camelblue on Wednesday, December 29, 2010 20 Comments
Labels: MARK FREE
Sunday, December 26, 2010
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
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Published by Camelblue on Sunday, December 26, 2010 9 Comments
Labels: MARK FREE
Monday, December 20, 2010
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!
Published by Camelblue on Monday, December 20, 2010 2 Comments
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
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
Published by Camelblue on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 5 Comments
Labels: MARK FREE
Saturday, December 11, 2010
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
Published by Camelblue on Saturday, December 11, 2010 10 Comments
Labels: MARK FREE
Monday, December 06, 2010
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
Published by Camelblue on Monday, December 06, 2010 5 Comments
Labels: MARK FREE
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
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
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Published by Camelblue on Wednesday, December 01, 2010 7 Comments
Labels: MARK FREE
Thursday, November 25, 2010
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
Published by Camelblue on Thursday, November 25, 2010 6 Comments
Labels: GARY MOON, MARK FREE, VENUS and MARS
Saturday, November 20, 2010
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
Published by Camelblue on Saturday, November 20, 2010 6 Comments
Labels: MARK FREE
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
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
Published by Camelblue on Wednesday, November 17, 2010 19 Comments
Labels: MARK FREE
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
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
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Published by Camelblue on Tuesday, November 09, 2010 8 Comments
Labels: ZEROp (Angi Schiliro)
Thursday, November 04, 2010
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
Published by Camelblue on Thursday, November 04, 2010 5 Comments
Labels: ERIC RUSSELL
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
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...
Published by Camelblue on Wednesday, November 03, 2010 1335 Comments
Labels: REQUEST and FILL CORNER
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
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
Published by Camelblue on Tuesday, October 26, 2010 21 Comments
Labels: KING OF HEARTS, TOMMY FUNDERBURK
Monday, October 25, 2010
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
.
Published by Camelblue on Monday, October 25, 2010 9 Comments
Labels: ICON
Saturday, October 16, 2010
TYCOON - Turn Out The Lights (1981) remastered
TYCOON... UNKNOWN AND GOOD
Published by Camelblue on Saturday, October 16, 2010 1 Comments
Labels: TYCOON
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
PARBER & KERSTEIN - Stories From The Heart (1991)
Jan Parber: Vocals, Background Vocals, Keyboards
Kenny Lübcke: Vocals +
Published by Camelblue on Wednesday, October 13, 2010 7 Comments
Labels: PARBER and KERSTEIN
Thursday, October 07, 2010
GOTTHARD - Dream Ballads
GOTTHARD - Dream Ballads
Published by Camelblue on Thursday, October 07, 2010 3 Comments
Labels: GOTTHARD
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
WHAT IF - What If (1987)
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...
WHAT IF
thanks Lostryder for the re-up
Published by Camelblue on Wednesday, October 06, 2010 10 Comments
Labels: TOMMY FUNDERBURK, WHAT IF
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
JOURNEY - The Reissue Bonuses & More
JOURNEY Bonuses NEW LINK
Published by Camelblue on Wednesday, September 29, 2010 13 Comments
Labels: JOURNEY
Thursday, September 23, 2010
JOHN MILES BAND - Transition [Krescendo CD reissue] (1985)
By 1984, John Miles' career was stagnant.
The band flew to L.A. and began to recording.
TRANSITION here
Published by Camelblue on Thursday, September 23, 2010 3 Comments
Labels: JOHN MILES BAND
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
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
Published by Camelblue on Wednesday, September 22, 2010 2 Comments
Labels: FAITHFULL
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
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
Published by Camelblue on Tuesday, September 21, 2010 18 Comments
Labels: STEVE PERRY
Monday, September 20, 2010
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
Published by Camelblue on Monday, September 20, 2010 3 Comments
Labels: HEARTLAND