JOHN KEANE - Straight Away (1999)

Continuing the Keane brothers saga, I wanted to present you JOHN KEANE's first solo album "Straight Away". While Tom's subsequent solo works in the music business are more widely known, this record by John Keane is quite hard to find and pretty unfamiliar to AOR aficionados.
After the Keane early '80s albums John Keane became one of the busiest session drummers from the L.A. scene. He did an instrumental LP but his true, integral first solo album was this one from 1999.

John secured some serious cats for the "Straight Away" recording sessions: Mike Landau, Tim Pierce and Buzz Feiten - probably the best guitarists around - Toto's Steve Porcaro on keys, Jason Scheff playing bass, brother Tom Keane on synthesizers, and the list continues.
Obviously what we have here is AOR with a Westcoast smell but highly tinted with a Hi-Tech colour.
Title track "Straight Away" opens the album driven by a pulsating bass line, agile drums and stylized guitar work akin Mr. Mister. John sings with aplomb helped by great harmonized backing vocals.
Then the Hi-Tech AOR appears on the uptempo "Red Raven", followed by the softer "We Love Our Fantasies".



"Venice Is Sinking" is a ballad with a smooth piano accompaniment, "She Can Not Be Denied" recalls Mr. Mister again, while the rocking "Love Is The Last Frontier" (love the guitar work here) is one of my favorites.
"Dark Side Of The Earth" has a slow, climatic atmosphere in the Richard Page solo works, "Since I Met You" is a midtempo with a nice melody, "Still" a truly elegant Westcoast number, and closer "More" ends the CD in full Hi-Tech mode, perhaps too much '90s Peter Gabriel-like for my tastes.

To sum up, if you like the lighter side of AOR with Hi-Tech and L.A. Westcoast touches, John Keane's "Straight Away" deserves a place in your collection. Of course production is impeccable and the playing precise and smooth.
Out of print.


01 - Straight Away
02 - Red Raven
03 - We Love Our Fantasies
04 - Venice Is Sinking
05 - After Dark
06 - She Can Not Be Denied
07 - Love Is The Last Frontier
08 - Headlines And Deadlines
09 - Darkside Of The Earth
10 - Since I Met You
11 - Still
12 - More

John Keane - vocals, drums, keyboards, moog bass
Mike Landau - guitars
Tim Pierce - acoustic & electric guitar
Buzz Feiten - nylon string & electric guitar
Steve Porcaro - keyboards
Tom Keane - synthesizer
Jason Scheff, Ronnie Sage, Ted Landau - bass
Jerry Scheff - acoustic & electric bass
Paulino DaCosta - percussion
Todd Taylor, Guy Thomas - background vocals




JOHN KEANE Straight Away
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KEANE - Today ,Tomorrow And Tonight (1982) [remastered]

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

After the successful self-titled debut as a band, KEANE quickly started the recording of this, their sophomore and final album "Today, Tomorrow And Tonight".
The Keane brothers turned things even more rocking for this new offering, still retaining their trademark melodies but more sharp in its delivery. The Toto influences are still here, but a more organic melodic rock vibe was thrown into the mix.

Bass player Mike Milwood was replaced by no-other than talented Jason Scheff (before joining Chicago) not only providing his deep bass lines but also enhancing even more the band's vocal harmonies.
There's a simple but catchy rocker on the commercial "Oh, Oh, Oh", a lovable melodic rock tune on "Don't Make Me Love You" (early Night Ranger-like), and a strong sharp guitar-driven track on "Tomorrow Is Today".
More AORish is the jumpin' "It's All Over", where Tom Keane's vocals gets a rougher delivery and Scheff plays a quasi-solo with his bass.

The full of bite and melody "I'm Ready Tonight" sounds again as a proto-Night Ranger, "I'm Ready Tonight" is groovy in the vein of 707, while the urgent "You Don't Have To" has some Loverboy on it.
Of course we have two fine ballads on the album; the smooth midtempo AOR of "My Kind" filled with clean guitars and a multi-part harmony chorus, and the superb closer "One Too Many Lovers", a Westcoast AOR sounding little gem.



Sadly, KEANE was a short-lived affair delivering two excellent albums, but the group disbanded because all its talented restless members were hungry for personal musical challenges.
Tom Keane become one of the best and more requested AOR songwriters in history, and together with bro John recorded in countless albums as session musicians. Mark Moulin formed the great AOR outfit Dreamer and played with Stan Bush, and Jason Scheff met stardom fronting Chicago and pursuing a successful songwriting career as well.

As far I know, "Today, Tomorrow And Tonight", this final album by KEANE, never was released in the US. Seems the master tapes were lost for many years, but fortunately, Japanese label Cool Sound reissued both records in 2001 with a superb remastering job.
A mandatory addition to any Melodic Rock / AOR collection.


01 - Oh Oh Oh
02 - My Kind
03 - Don't Make Me Love You
04 - I Can See You
05 - Tomorrow Is Today
06 - It's All Over
07 - I'm Ready Tonight
08 - Mindreader
09 - You Don't Have To
10 - One Too Many Lovers

Tom Keane - Vocals, Keyboards
John Keane - Drums & Percussion
Mark Moulin - Guitars, Backing Vocals
Jason Scheff - Bass, Backing Vocals




KEANE Today ,Tomorrow And Tonight remastered
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KEANE - Keane (1981) remastered

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

The KEANE brothers Tom & John were prodigious kids, as in the mid-seventies at the age of 11 and 12, both fronted their own musical TV show and signed a major record deal. As 'Keane Brothers' they released two LP's produced by the likes of David Foster, Lamont Dozier and David Paich.

At the beginning of the '80s, the bros. formed their own band simply called KEANE, musically oriented to the AOR / Melodic Rock waves so en vogue with a more than a passing nod to the Toto sound. Indeed Keane was called 'Little Toto' but not only for their musical similarity, but also for the quality in their compositions and performances.
Tom Keane (only 18 years old at the time of the recording) shows a remarkable maturity on his greatly harmonized vocals, while the rest of the band including brother John on drums is impeccable.



Cuts like the dynamic opener "Tryin' To Kill A Saturday Night", the muscular "Bad Little Baby Girl" or the rocking "You Got The Better Of Me" are no-brainers for any Melodic Rock / AOR aficionado.
"Baby I'm Dead" has something of REO Speedwagon, and the highlight "Kill Or Be Killed" somehow reminds me I-Ten, but the rest of the album is clearly impregnated by Lukather & Co: the sweet and melodious "Lorelei", "Anything Less Than Love" or the superb ballad "My Special Way".
Production is top notch and this remaster from the specialized Japanese label Cool Sound, pristine and clear.
Out of print.


01 - Tryin' To Kill A Saturday Night
02 - Bad Little Baby Girl
03 - You Got The Better Of Me
04 - Kill Or Be Killed
05 - My Special Way
06 - Baby I'm Dead
07 - I Love My Life
08 - Anything Less Than Love
09 - Lorelei
10 - Judy

Tom Keane - Vocals, Keyboards
John Keane - Drums & Percussion
Mike Milwood - Bass & Vocals
Mark Moulin - Guitars & Vocals
David Pearlman - Lapsteel Solo
Michael Zorro Singers - Background Vocals




UPDATED HERE
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SEPTEMBER - Dreams & Lessons (1987) [bootleg CD]

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

Founded by brothers Russ & Doug Kirkland and their sister Dale, the St. Louis-based band SEPTEMBER was already featured on this blog some years ago with their second album Lines Are Falling.
"Dreams & Lessons" - from 1987 - was the band's last release and musically the most complete in my opinion, mixing classic '80s AOR with Melodic Rock and some Westcoast touches.

Both Russ and Dale share lead vocals most the time providing a very nice counterpoint on the varied material on offer here, as the Toto-esque "It Hurts Me", the highly harmonized midtempo "If You Believe", the poppy "Over My Wing", and the hardest rocking track on the record; "Stand Up Follow Me".
Dale leads solely on the Tane Cain sounding "Heaventime", while Russ does the same on the anthemic "Checkin' My Six" (somehow akin John Parr), the Starship-like rocker "I Fool Me" and the ballad "Sean's Song".
September even flirts with hi-tech stylings on "Animal Land", plenty of keyboards all over.



Unlike the more known groups from the CCM movement, September remained independent releasing their material through their own Sugar Records label. That's why their LP's are so hard to find and never were reissued on CD.
This is a rare, limited bootleg CD edition of "Dreams & Lessons" which sounds million bucks.
Get it while it's hot...


01 - It Hurts Me
02 - If You Believe
03 - Over My Wing
04 - Heaventime
05 - Sean's Song
06 - Animal Land
07 - I Fool Me
08 - Checkin' My Six
09 - Stand Up Follow Me

Dale Kirkland - Lead vocals, Keyboards
Russ Kirkland - Lead vocals, Synth, Electric Piano
Doug Kirkland - Keyboards, Vocals
John Hayes, Rob Williams, Scott Payne - Guitar
Jim Bullard, Jay Hungerford - Bass
Carl Albrecht - Drums, Percussion




SEPTEMBER Dreams & Lessons bootleg CD
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FACE DANCER - This World (1979) [remastered 2009]

As requested, here it is the U.S. state of Maryland proud FACE DANCER and their debut "This World", a lovable slice of late seventies Hard Hock, Pomp AOR and high octane Cheap Trick influenced Melodic Rock, all wrapped by funny, quirky lyrical themes.
The production of Richie Wise (Kiss, Stan Bush) made Face Dancer's first album sound quite unique, fresh and entertaining.

We have here the most known songs from the band (also re-recorded for Midnite Raid, recently posted in this blog) such as the swaggering "Red Shoes" and one of my favorites, "Time Bomb", a delightful rocker with an instrumental middle section emulating the first video games.
"Can't Stand Still" is a straight-forward hard rocker with rich guitar work, "Change" is one of most elaborated songs with excellent vocal arrangements, and "Cry Baby" rocks with melody.
Another favourite of mine is "If I Could Kiss You", a midtempo ballad with a strong backbone and pompy flavored keyboards all over.



This is the remastered version of Face Dancer's "This World" reissued not so long ago with a crystal clear sound and nice artwork.
Really enjoyable.

01 - Red Shoes
02 - Can't Stand Still
03 - Change
04 - If I Could Kiss You
05 - The Sphinx
06 - Cry Baby
07 - Heart's At Home
08 - Hard To Please
09 - Time Bomb
10 - When You Said

Carey Kress - lead vocals
Jeff Adams - lead guitar
David Utter - guitar, vocals
Scott McGinn - bass, keyboards, vocals
Billy Trainor - drums




FACE DANCER This World remastered
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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.



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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KYLE VINCENT - Trust (1993) bonus tracks

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

This really good album was posted on this blog in 2008 HERE. Go to the original post and read comments by Kyle himself.
The old link is broken, so as requested here it is again with a couple of bonus tracks added by Kyle Vincent on his own release of the CD few years ago.

Unknown to the big audiences but not for AOR lovers and collectors, this is the first Kyle Vincent album, recorded in 1992 and never officially released due to his recording label bankrupt (some sources mention it was released in limited press only in Japan, 1993). Also exists a '99 bootleg edition with different name.



Kyle's subsequent albums turned more into soul/pop territory, but this one is a real gem of melodic rock / light AOR tunes in the vein of Mitch Malloy, Rick Springfield, Kenny Loggins, Richard Marx or even the earlier Bryan Adams.

"Trust" is rich in beautiful melodies sung by Kyle with a sweet and warm tone, including a song co-written with AOR icon Steve Kipner and top class session musicians such as Tim Pierce, Gilby Clarke, Freddie Washington (Kenny Loggins band), Gerry Beckley (America), JR Johnson (M. Jackson band) and more.
Even more, production is terrific, handled by AOR legend Clif Magness alongside Steve Levine and Kyle himself.
GREAT one.


01 - A Night Like This
02 - Never Say Die
03 - Trust
04 - Something To Remember Me By
05 - Maybe It's Better this Way
06 - What Am I Gonna Do
07 - Change the World
08 - For All the Wrong Reasons
09 - Wherever You Are Tonight
10 - Now I Know
11 - One Ticket Home [bonus track]
12 - Never Say Die (feat. G. Clarke) [bonus track]

Kyle Vincent: vocals, keyboards
Tim Pierce, Gerry Beckley, Clif Magness, Gilby Clarke: guitars
Louis Johnson, Freddie Washington: bass
Michael Eqizi, Gerry Beckley: keyboards
Johnathan Moffett, JR Robinson: drums
Produced by Clif Magness, Steve Levine & Kyle Vincent


KYLE VINCENT Trust _ bonus tracks
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STEPHEN CRANE - Kicks (1984) restored audio

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

STEPHEN CRANE used to play in a band called Baby at the end of the seventies but his opportunity as solo artist arrived in 1984 by the hand of the major MCA label.
Stephen's debut "Kicks" was produced by Jai Winding (Le Roux) who also played keys, and no-other than the great Steve Lukather. In fact, all TOTO guys were involved in the recording including groove master Jeff Porcaro on drums.
We also find Richard Page (Mr. Mister, Pages) and AOR guru Tom Kelly (I-Ten, Van Stephenson, Survivor) doing backing vocals, together with brilliant session guitar players such as Duane Sciacqua, Joey Brasler and Ray Pannell.

The multitude of guitarists has an explanation; "Kicks" for the most part is a guitar driven AOR / Melodic Rock album with a 1984's radio friendly sound. And on most tracks, we found three different six-string axeman playing together in the same song.
Crane's pumping bass lines add even more muscle to the tunes, and his sometimes raspy but melodic vocals reminds you a cross of a young Brock Walsh, Van Stephenson on the calmer moments and Paul Sabu on the edgy.
There's not a single weak track here, going from hooky and catchy numbers like "Headed For A Heartbreak", "Joanne" or the urgent "Victims Of Love", to more AORish cuts such as the Toto-esque "Back On My Feet Again" (featuring a killer Lukather solo) and the Van Stephenson sounding "I'll Take Care Of You".



Criminally ignored not only by MR / AOR fans in general - but also by the industry as it never was released on CD - "Kicks" is one of the best records in the genre from that era.
This is my own vinyl-rip with restored audio done by myself, including artwork. I humbly think you won't find a better rip of this one anywhere.


01 - Headed For A Heartbreak
02 - Joanne
03 - Kicks
04 - All My Love
05 - Victims Of Love
06 - I Can't Wait
07 - Back On My Feet Again
08 - I'll Take Care For You
09 - Sooner Or Later
10 - Crying Don't Look Good On You

Stephen Crane - Vocals, Bass
Steve Lukather - Guitar, Farfisa Organ, Backing Vocals
Duane Sciacqua, Joey Brasler, Ray Pannell - Guitar
Jeff Porcaro, David Crockett, Jody Cortez - Drums
Jai Winding, James Newton Howard - Keyboards
Steve Porcaro - Synthesizer, Programming
Tom Kelly, Richard Page - Backing Vocals
Produced by Jai Winding & Steve Lukather




STEPHEN CRANE Kicks - restored audio
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FACE FACE - Bridge To Nowhere (2006)

Although based in Switzerland due their recording label / management, FACE FACE is an international outfit founded by multi-instrumentalist D.D. Matter and a guitarist with an American origin, George Miller. Both write, produce and engineer all the band's music.
The vocal slot is occupied by talented Irishman Mervyn Spence, known for his work in the Phenomena project, Wishbone Ash, Trapeze and specially for us, AOR fans, in his own band O'Ryan (featured on this blog HERE)

Face Face's debut 'Childhood Dreams' was, for me, the best AOR album that came out in 1994, and one of greats of that decade. D.D. Matter lost the rights of the band's name and the lot decided to release their second effort under the Purple Cross moniker in 2000.



But things returned to normal for this "Bridge To Nowhere", their third record again with the Face Face name at front.
Talking about the music, the band style remained faithful to the European sound of its origins, just a bit more Melodic Rock oriented than AOR.

There's hooky guitar-driven numbers in "Lights Of New York", "It's Not The End" and the energetic "Don't Stop", nice midtempos like the extremely melodic "Walking On Sunshine", AORish moments in "Close Your Eyes" (my favorite) and "White Rose", then balladry on "True Love".



"Bridge To Nowhere" is typical Euro Melodic Rock by numbers but really enjoyable, specially Mervyn's vocal harmonies and the melodious guitar work of Miller. It's well produced and mixed with a bright sound.
Out of print.


01 - Lights Of New York
02 - Walking On Sunshine
03 - Don't Stop
04 - True Love
05 - Bridge To Nowhere
06 - Close Your Eyes
07 - Sin City
08 - White Rose
09 - It's Not The End
10 - Desire Burns Like Fire

Mervyn Spence - lead vocals
George Miller - guitars, keyboards, vocals
D.D. Matter - keyboards, guitar, bass, percussion
Marcel Ammann - drums
Tamara Meier - backing vocals
Pete Jefferson - drums on 1
Michael Hedderich - add. guitar




FACE FACE Bridge To Nowhere
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