Closing the circle.
Great songs from 1984 to 1985, when the genre exploded and you could turn on the radio to listen good music.
As usual in this series, no bands belonging to major labels and mass distribution (SURVIVOR, LOVERBOY), and not subgenres like scandi, westcoast, etc.
Perhaps many feel that I've left out lots of good bands / tracks, I have tried to select the most representative of those years.
Or maybe consider that some actually belong to the Melodic Rock area, in my book, all these songs are AOR-Rock monsters.
The premise here is; tons of keyboards, huge choruses and big guitars.
Mostly ripped from remastered CD's.
REFUGEE's first album was transferred from vinyl (not from the master tapes) by the reissue label. Has a good sound anyway.
This '85 version of CRYSTAL's "Piece Of My Heart" never was released on CD, it is the only track ripped from vinyl here, but sounds million bucks.
Get your AOR dose now...
01 - Van Zant : 2 + 2 (1985)
02 - Fortune : Thrill Of It All (1985)
03 - Urgent (USA) : Running Back (1984)
04 - Giuffria : Lonely In Love (1984)
05 - Refugee : Exiles In The Dark (1985)
06 - Franke & The Knockouts : So Cool (1984)
07 - Coney Hatch : Fantasy (1985)
08 - Little River Band : Playing To Win (1984)
09 - Strangeways : Power Play (1984)
10 - Dakota : Runaway (1984)
11 - Orion The Hunter : So You Ran (1984)
12 - Sharx : Maybe [We Lost Our Love] (1985)
13 - Crystal : Piece Of My Heart (1985)
14 - Urgent (Canada) : Killer Love (1984)
15 - Honeymoon Suite : Words In The Wind (1985)
16 - White Sister : Can't Say No (1984)
17 - Duke Jupiter : Dancin' On The Ice (1985)
18 - Shooting Star : Don't Walk Away (1985)
Back Tray preview, CLICK HERE:
Vol.4 - The Blasting Years 84 / 85 - NEW LINK
Thanks for this great music camelblue.
ReplyDeleteI love aor!!
Cool graphics as usual
ReplyDeleteI have a question
Isn't the title for Orion the Hunter's song
'So You Ran' ??
@ Joecool:
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right!
Really bad mistypo...
Great compilation!!! Thank you!!!
ReplyDeleteAwesome as always!!! Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThough I might have chosen some different tracks from some of the albums. But that's always difficult, when every track is great like on most of these albums! :-)
GIUFFRIA's debut, HONEYMOON SUITE's "The Big Prize" and especially "Affairs in Babylon" by REFUGEE are some of my alltime favourite albums!!! VAN ZANT - st, LRB - Playing To Win and ORION THE HUNTER are awesome, too!!!
I have all these on CD, so if anyone needs something, let me know in the Request and fill corner. But indeed every AOR lover should have these anyway or buy them immediately if he doesn't.
Cheers
1980-F
P.S. By the way: HONEYMOON SUITE - The Big Prize was released in January 1986 as far as I can remember - and I remember this well. :-)
Ok, the label says 1985, but I'm quite sure it wasn't available before January 1986 - at least in Germany.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes
@ 1980-F, Germany:
ReplyDeleteAgree with you. ALL essential discs.
I have mostly picked up 'the not so popular tracks' from each album, but killers anyway.
HONEYMOON SUITE - The Big Prize was released in 1985 only in USA.
In their hometown (Canada) the release day was Valentine's Day (February 14, 1986).
Fantastic looking artwork yet again. I agree with your choice of songs from the Orion, LRB and Duke Jupiter albums, the rest not so much. I would never have included Coney Hatch, Sharx, Crystal and either Urgent (they're not classics in my book, unlike a.o. Streets, The Innocent, Prophet or Icon), but opinions vary and fortunately for everyone on here I was not consulted. ;o)
ReplyDeleteI've never bought MTM's Refugee - 'Affairs...' CD release because in just about every review I've read people complain about the poor quality vinyl transfer. But in light of your claim I'm starting to have doubts again. How about uploading a rip in the Req & Fill section so I can judge for myself???
ReplyDelete@ troynew :
ReplyDeleteThat's the idea; no classics (though there are several here), no major bands. These series aren't " The Best Of " at all.
Agree with Streets, Prophet, Icon and more, but I've tried to keep the overall sound homogeneous. Love Prophet's "Street Secrets".
ICON's 'Night Of The Crime' is my favorite album of all time. My Nº1.
check your mail...
Then I guess I'm missing the point you and Franke are trying to make with this 'The ... Years' series cause it sure looks to me like the vast majority of the artists/bands and albums contained are classics and I don't see why the tracks you chose (at random?) are any more representative of the period in question than the absolute highlights would have been.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, doesn't really matter as long as it's an enjoyable listen.
('Even' the Crystal and Coney Hatch tunes certainly qualify as such if you go by the criteria you mentioned. The former especially is delectable fodder for a keyboard fetishist like yours truly.)
PS: I suppose 192 kbps is quite sufficient to get an idea of the sound of the Refugee CD, yes. Much obliged for the link.
Did you find that pic of a Camel shaped water drop online or did you make it from scratch? Just curious.
ReplyDeleteIf it's an Ariel original, color me seriously impressed.
@ troynew :
ReplyDeleteThe selected songs were not chosen randomly at all.
I tried to cover both spectres; great albums 84-85 not to be missed, and really good 'inside favorite' songs, not the highlights commonly listened by AOR/MR newbies on sites like YouTube, Play, Myspace, etc.
About the art work, this isn't entirely my idea.
This pic was mostly made by me from the scratch, but the original sketch comes from a publicity campaign were I was seriously involved as creative, certainly not as a graphic draftsman.
I am a PSD newbie, just for fun. The original is FAR better, believe me...
I believe you, but what seems simple to you to me is a kind of magic (Queen pun) on a par with David Copperfield most death-defying acts. ;o)
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of which, I'm still looking for artist and title of a song used in one of David's tv specials (could have been the one where he made the Statue of Liberty 'disappear', or the Orient Express, or the one where he almost plummets down Niagara Falls in a barrel), the only line of which I remember is 'I've got a secret for you'. It sounded like Ann Wilson singing, but I've never managed to discover what tune it was. Any idea?
I've never heard of PSD by the way and the only 'Play' site I know is Play.com because I sometimes order DVDs from there.
AOR/MR newbies usually don't even know about the classics. They've barely gotten past the Journey, Foreigner, Survivor, Loverboy, REO Speedwagon, Bon Jovi, Asia, Kansas, Boston, Michael Bolton, Bryan Adams stage.
Dear Camelblue,
ReplyDeleteThank You, as always. Looks like you have presented some great music here which i will try only after i find my i pod headfones (mamma, i mispaced it!).
Do me a favor please.
Can you / 1980-F, Germany suggest all those albums that a listener must have from these years. I mean those soundtrack based albums that is similar in context to what you gave us here. I am ready to buy but will highly doubt these being available in India.
I am not sure if i will end up flooding the request and fill corner but might do it for everyone
s sake.
Thanks again for the great (art)work and happiness.
love,
bart
@ bart :
ReplyDeleteA good start: http://heavyharmonies.com
Just go there, paste each title song posted here, and select from the drop down options "Song Title".
Request in REQUEST & FILL CORNER as much as you want.
As always, Camelblue.
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU VERY MUCH.
I like that camel shaped water drop on back cover artwork as well.
^__^
I would like to exchange links with your site hardrockaorheaven.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteIs this possible?
No problem.
ReplyDeleteDrop your name & site address here.
This and the 'Seminal' comp you put together are excellent. Most of these songs are out in orbit for evermore and you did a great job. It has motivated me to go on a similar mission and find old Kick Axe, Helix, etc. stuff. Thanks!!
ReplyDelete-jrsfarm-
thanks a million!
ReplyDeleteI love your compilations, I discover many bands through your work.
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for your time and efforts.
(excuse my english):)
gracias por el aporte
ReplyDeleteNine years later and I still listen to this compilation. Yes - it's *that* good!
ReplyDeleteHi Camelblue,
ReplyDeleteCould you reupload this compilation? it seems the link is down
Thanks in advance