AL BARTON - Precious (1991)

Requested in the Chat box...

ALAN BARTON born in Great Britain and during the seventies was part of the successful pop act Black Lace, representing the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979.
In the middle '80s, Al replaced singer Chris Norman in Smokie recording six albums with them, including the awesome 'Boulevard Of Broken Dreams' and 'All Fired Up' (I don't know why I didn't posted these very good albums here yet).
In the middle, Barton released his one and only solo album, this "Precious", in 1991.

As you can listen in the video-song below, "Precious" is Melodic Rock with an European sound and some rock&pop in between, driven by melodious guitars, nice keyboards and Al's velvety vocals.
All songs are good and easy to the ears with polished arrangements, wrapped by a pristine, crystal clear production.
Two singles were taken from "Precious"; "July 69" in 1990 as advance, and "Carry Your Heart" in 1991, a duet with Norwegian female singer Kristine Pettersen which obtained some airplay in Scandinavia. In fact, as far I know, this CD edition of "Precious" only was released in Norway.



Sadly, Barton died in '95 at the age of 41 from injuries incurred when Smokie's tour bus crashed during a storm in Germany.
"Precious" is one of these rare little gems unheard by most Melodic Rock fans and collectors, quite hard to find on CD (out of print).


01 - Being With You
02 - White Dust
03 - Precious
04 - Carry Your Heart
05 - Soakin' Up The Sun
06 - Drive, Drive, Drive
07 - These Feellings For You
08 - July '69
09 - Running Away From Heaven
10 - All Fall Down

Al Barton: Lead Vocals, Guitars
Andy Wheelan: Guitar, Mandolin, 6 string Bass
Neil Ferguson: Guitar, Keyboards
Marin Bullard: Keyboards
Marcus Cliffe: Bass
Steve Pinell: Drums
Neil Hardcastle: Percussion
Jackie Ross, Kath Parker: Backing Vocals
Kristine Pettersen: guest Lead Vocals on 4




AL BARTON Precious (1991)
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TIME GALLERY - Kaleidoscope (1992)

Requested in "REQUEST & FILL CORNER" section...

TIME GALLERY probably was the best Lite AOR coming out from Sweden. This "Kaleidoscope" is their second and last album released in 1992.
If one word define these guy's style is finesse.



Combining AOR melodies ("The Feeling Is Gone") with power pop guitar chords ala Richard Marx ("Closer To Love", "Y.B.B." -great guitar solo), heavenly harmony vocals ("Like Summerrain"), smooth WestCoast touches (the very TOTO-esque "You") and a dash of '80s Hi-Tech ("Lovesmash"), there's something for everyone here.



With a superb, crystal-clear production, "Kaleidoscope" is chock full of memorable catchy hooks and choruses in the Scandinavian style.
The CD is out of print and it isn't easy to find a HQ rip of this beauty.
Enjoy!


01 - Closer To Love
02 - Like Summerrain
03 - The Feeling Is Gone
04 - You
05 - Lovesmash
06 - Y.B.B.
07 - Merry-go-round
08 - Goodbye Molly's Angels
09 - Don't Say It's Love
10 - Julie Knows
11 - Like Summerrain (Sway mix) [bonus track]

Patrik De Vee - Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Keyboards
Fredrik Bergengren - Guitar
Johan Stentorp - Keyboards, Vocals
Thomas Nyberg - Bass, Vocals
Carl Colt - Drums, Percussion




TIME GALLERY Kaleidoscope HQ
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SEVEN - Man With A Vision + extras (1990)

Re-post from years ago, because it's very rare, and very good.

Another "Request & Fill Corner" request, John Parr related.
Don't be afraid by the 'boy-band' look of this guys.
Yes, they supposed to be a chart product, but unlike that kind of monstrosity, they wrote their own songs and really play all the instruments.
And what a beautiful AOR songs!
Produced by John Parr ("Man With A Vision" tune was recorded by himself in '92), they released 2 singles on the Polydor label the same year: "Inside Love" in january and "Man With A Vision" in june, 1990.



Seven went on to tour with The Monkees, Richard Marx and Jason Donovan, and the singles sold well, but some label / management problems dissolved the project.
A shame, they were very good. There's rumours that a full album was recorded, but shelved...
If you like Parr's music and style, well done poppy AOR with class, this is for you.
Man With A Vision maxi-single is complete (4 tracks), plus Inside Love 7'' version and 2 demos (supposed to be part of the unreleased album).

01. Man With A Vision [7'' version]
02. Just Close Your Eyes
03. Man With A Vision [extended version]
04. Stranger (In The Night)
05. Inside Love [7'' version]
06. Untill Then (demo)
07. Be That Girl (demo)

Mick Devine: Lead Vocals
Keith MacFarlane: Guitar, Vocals
Pat Davey: Bass, Vocals
Simon Lefevre: Keyboards, Vocals
Austin Lane: Drums
Produced by John Parr




SEVEN - Man With A Vision
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PRINCESS PANG - Princess Pang (1989) American Edition

Requested in "REQUEST & FILL CORNER" section...

Female fronted hard rockers PRINCESS PANG were labelled as an American group, but actually, the band born in Sweden and half of the members are from this origin.
Singer Jeni Foster met bassist Ronnie Roze Johansson in New York at the middle of the '80s, but both decided to fly to Sweden and start to work on a new band there. After assembling the group with guitarist Andy Tjernon and drummer Brian Keats, they wrote a bunch of songs, recorded some demos and returned to USA when Metal Blade Records showed interest.

The self titled "Princess Pang" was recorded with Ron St. Germain (Living Colour) behind the desk and the result was a kickin', energetic slice of American Hard Rock yet not in the typical glammy style from the end of the '80s.
Sure, there's some tracks in this vein like "Trouble In Paradise", the razor "Any Way You Want It" (a highlight on the disc) and "Scream & Shout" (which reminds me Lee Aaron) driven by sharp guitar riffs and Jeni Foster's strong pipes.

But Princess Pang was a different beast - and that's perhaps the reason for their lack of commercial success - because they added to their music a strong bluesy feel like on "Find My Heart A Home" (some kind of Tesla with female vocals), the honky "No Reason To Cry", the groovy "Sympathy" or the slow burner "Baby Blue" (title says all).
Additionally on numbers such as "China Doll" they are closer to Pat Benatar than the Californian glammy hard rock of the era. I mean, the overall sound on the album is edgy & rockin' and I like it a lot, but surely not what was in the major public's mind, eager to find the new Heart, Bon Jovi or Poison.



After presenting the album on tour together with the likes of Mr. Big and Ace Frehley, "Princess Pang" disbanded and this sole CD is their legacy. And a very good one. "Princess Pang" is an album that after the second spin gets stuck in your head, because is rich in great melodies and true Rock 'n Roll substance.
Quite unknown and pretty hard to find, this a rip from the American CD edition (sounds much better than the German) at maximum quality including artwork.


01. Trouble In Paradise
02. Find My Heart A Home
03. South St. Kids
04. No Reason To Cry
05. Sympathy
06. Scream & Shout
07. China Doll
08. Baby Blue
09. Too Much, Too Soon
10. Any Way You Want It
11. I'm Not Playin'

Jeni Foster - lead vocals
Andy Tjernon - guitar, background vocals
Jay Lewis - guitar, background vocals
Ronnie Roze Johansson - bass, background vocals
Brian Keats - drums, percussion, background vocals




PRINCESS PANG real 320
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