Friday, March 28, 2014

FACE DANCER - Midnite Raid (1990)

FACE DANCER - Midnite Raid (1990)

Hailing from the U.S. state of Maryland, FACE DANCER released their debut This World through major label Capitol at the end of the seventies, a wonderful slice of Pomp AOR / Melodic Rock.
There was a 2nd offering musically more 'middle of the road' (MOR) oriented, then the band practically disappeared although they continued occasionally playing gigs.

"Midnite Raid" is Face Dancer's third album, and quite unknown because it was released by themselves and mostly sold at their shows. This copy is from the 2003 re-release (with different artwork) sold at their website and now deleted. The CD was not silver pressed, but officially released by Face Dancer and is sought after by collectors.
Through the years Face Dancer's sound changed according to times, and in "Midnite Raid", recorded between 1989-90, most of the Pomp is gone giving room for a more Melodic Hard Rock style.

FACE DANCER - Midnite Raid (1990) back cover

All tracks - except the midtempo ballad "I Hope You Know What You Want" - are punchy uptempo rockers driven by a very good guitar work, heavy handed drums and catchy choruses.
We have as well a re-work of two songs from Face Dancer's first album; "Red Shoes" and the fun "Time Bomb", updated to the early '90s standards.
Despite the indie production, everything in "Midnite Raid" sounds fine and well mixed.
It's an enjoyable listen and a one to treasure as it's extremely rare.


1 - Can't Let Go
2 - Don't Get Me Wrong
3 - Gotta Find Love
4 - Shakin' Again
5 - Bad Luck With Money
6 - River Of Love
7 - Red Shoes
8 - I Hope You Know What You Want
9 - Time Bomb

Carey Kress - vocals
David Bell - guitars
Scott McGinn - bass, keyboards, vocals
Billy Trainor - drums
add. musicians:
Kris Fath - backing vocals
Stephen Hatfield - keyboards on 1, 8
Kenny F - sax on 8




FACE DANCER Midnite Raid
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7 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Very good album, thx.
Do you have their first one in good quality (remastered)

Sergei

Camelblue said...

@Sergei:
Coming up soon.

JC_AOR said...

Great post Camel, love it !!
JC

Anonymous said...

There's no chance you have the live album Alive, also self-released and now extremely rare? I've looked everywhere for a copy, including asking band members, but its impossible to find!

Walter Nudo said...

Hi Camelblue can you please reup this? link is dead. thanks!
W

Walter Nudo said...

Sorry, wrong post. link is hidden but actually still running so I downloaded it
So forget my previous entry....
Rock on!

Unknown said...

I've been looking for ALIVE ! also for many years also. It was sold in local record stores in the mid-nineties. Then disappeared. Still looking....