ESSENCE (NY) - Essence [unreleased] (1980)

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

ESSENCE was active in the tri-state area, NY rock scene since the half of the Seventies to 1982. This was the previous band for vocalist / guitarist Bruce "Butch" Papa, also known as "Dartanyan" before founding Cinema, the group previously featured here on the blog.

Essence's music is strongly influenced by classic progressive bands like Kansas and Styx, both at the peak of their popularity around those years. But we can hear as well a hard rock / pomp touch, a fusion that novel bands such as Journey or Roadmaster were developing at the same age.



Essence entered the studio to record their own songs in 1980, and although it is all solid material, a record deal never surfaced. The group continued playing with success but after some line-up changes, Essence split in 1982.
This is an extremely rare material from my vault, never released. The sound quality is really good, including some little artwork myself made.
RARE


1 - Child Of My Own
2 - Holdin' On
3 - Out All Night Again
4 - Pretenders
5 - Hurts From The Last Time
6 - No Warning
7 - Matty
8 - No More Rain

Bruce "Butch" Papa - lead vocals, guitar
Gary Grill - bass, vocals
George Tebbitt - guitar, vocals
Rich Bifulco - keyboards
Rich Lang - drums, vocals




ESSENCE (NY) [unreleased]
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CINEMA - Break The Silence (1986) [CD reissue + bonus]

Someone asked for material by vocalist Bruce Papa (aka "Dartanyan") previous to his band CINEMA. I think it's better first to present here Cinema's one and only album "Break The Silence", as truly deserves a place in your '80s Melodic Rock / AOR collection.
This NY based 5-piece was strongly influenced by the classic Pompy AOR sounds from the golden era, and despite of being released in 1986 (private vinyl LP), the sound in "Break The Silence" owes more to the early Eighties than anything.

The album is plenty of keyboard/synth driven wonderful tunes like 'So Lost In Love', the Journey-like 'Suburban Lines', title track (some Prophet on it), and the lovely 'Ruby', perhaps the more mid-80s sounding track on the album.
For years "Break The Silence" was impossible to find, a true AOR fan collector's piece. Then some time ago was put on CD for the first time plus 6 juicy previously unreleased tracks.
A worthy addition to your collection.


01 - So Lost In Love
02 - Ruby
03 - I'll Never Go
04 - Suburban Lines
05 - Lifeline
06 - Break The Silence
07 - I'll Be There
08 - On My Way
Previously unreleased bonus tracks;
09 - Take My Hand
10 - So Lost In Love (Demo)
11 - I Still Remember
12 - Wonderland
13 - Shine
14 - One More Song

Bruce "Dartanyan" Papa - Vocals
Louie Ferraro - Guitar, Vocals
John Anthony Ilvento - Keyboards, Synthesizers
Paul Catterson - Bass, Taurus pedals
Ronnie Mini - Percussion




CINEMA Break The Silence CD reissue + bonus]
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