TAYLOR MESPLE - Victory Land (2002)

Requested by a reader, this one is a pleasure to feature here, because it's one of the most criminally unknown releases from the past decade, and one of the best.
American singer and composer TAYLOR MESPLÉ recorded and put out this "Victory Land" - his debut album - independently in 2002. But indie does not mean poor production or players. At least not in this case.

Throughout this delicate piece of smooth WestCoast AOR with sophisticated Pop & Melodic Rock touches you will enjoy a terrific, first class sound production, and some of the most respected L.A. session man such as guitarist Tim 'the touch' Pierce or the prince of swing Abraham Laboriel Jr. behind the skins.
All tracks are really good combining melodic accessibility with the all out blowing of 'heavy' instrumental chops from every player on each track.



Style-wise, think Richard Page (Mr. Mister era), Jason Scheff, Richard Marx, King Of Hearts and alike, but there's much more variation on the album to put it in one single category.
As example, opener and title track "Victory Land", would not be out of place on Eric Johnson's Ah... Via Musicom.

Taylor Mesplé's "Victory Land" is a wonderful CD, composed and performed with passion, elegance and tons of finesse.
Rare and Great.


01 - Victory Land
02 - Answer Your Own Question
03 - Glory
04 - Imagination
05 - One Word
06 - Just Begun
07 - No Apology
08 - Go Somewhere (Renata's Story)
09 - Running
10 - Grace

Taylor Mesplé: Vocals, Keyboards, Vocoder, Guitar Soundscapes
Tim Pierce: Electric & Backwards Guitars, 12 String & Sustainiae Guitar
Dave Beegle: Nylon String Guitar, E-Bow
Joe Gamble: Additional Electric Guitars
Mel Brown: Bass
Michael Olson: Fretless Bass
Abraham Laboriel Jr: Drums
Larry Thompson: Drums & Processed Drum Overdubs
Darren Rahn: Programming
Keith Rosenhagen: Acoustic Guitar
Winston Ford : Background Vocals & Featured Guest Vocal
John David Webster, Rebecca Mesplé & Shauna Chanda: Background Vocals


TAYLOR MESPLE - Victory Land
.

MICHAEL STANLEY BAND - You Can't Fight Fashion [remastered & expanded]

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

As requested, here it is the penultimate MICHAEL STANLEY BAND album, and their most successful commercially. Although my favorite from the combo is the already posted Inside Moves due its mid-eighties AOR feel, this "You Can't Fight Fashion" from 1983 it's a very nice exponent from the first half of the '80s American Melodic Rock.
The record scored two prosperous singles with the anthem "My Town" into the Top40 - a song with more than 100 recorded versions all over the world - and the highly melodic and a personal pick "Someone Like You" sung by talented Kevin Raleigh, reaching a very respectable #75 on the Billboard charts.

"You Can't Fight Fashion" is mostly straight forward radio rock oriented interspersed with pristine midtempos like the highlight "The Damage Is Done", another AOR gem from Raleigh that reminds Orion The Hunter and Franke & Knockouts.
Stanley's strong rocker "Fire In The Hole" is a story song about a mining disaster, with lead guitars all over (courtesy of new guitarist Danny Powers), while "Hard Time" is rich on stabbing keyboards / synths typical from the early '80s.



Released nationally by EMI America and handled by high-profile producer Bob Clearmountain (Bryan Adams, David Bowie), "You Can't Fight Fashion" should have been MSB's deserved widespread success. But a dispute between Stanley and the label ended with EMI dropping the band after only six months of contract.
Despite of being the most fruitful on sales album in the entire Michael Stanley Band history, "You Can't Fight Fashion" is quite hard to find on CD (and in good quality on the blogosphere), only reissued some years ago with a couple of live bonus tracks.
A fine, catchy slice of American Melodic Rock ripped at maximum quality.


01 - Hard Time
02 - Just Give Me Tonight
03 - Someone Like You
04 - Highlife
05 - My Town
06 - The Damage Is Done
07 - Fire In The Hole
08 - How Can You Call This Love
09 - Just How Good
10 - My Town (Live) [bonus track]
11 - Someone Like You (Live) [bonus track]

Michael Stanley: vocals, guitar
Kevin Raleigh: vocals, synths, organ
Danny Powers: lead guitar, vocals
Bob Pelander: piano, synths, vocals
Michael Gismondi: bass
Tommy Dobeck: drums, percussion
Rick Bell: sax
Jimmy Maelen: percussion
Bob Clearmountain: arranger, mixing, producer, backing vocals




MSB You Can't Fight Fashion HQ
.

MICHAEL STANLEY BAND - Inside Moves (1986) [remastered & expanded]

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

American songwriter / singer / guitarist Michael Stanley recorded two solo albums in the first half of the seventies with collaboration from the likes of Joe Walsh, Todd Rundgren and David Sanborn, but he wanted a real, stable band and founded the MICHAEL STANLEY BAND in 1974.
For over a decade, MSB rocked the arenas all over the US MidWest sharing stages with Foreigner, The Eagles or REO Speedwagon, and gained a strong loyal following in USA & Canada.

The band's early '80s albums were the more popular with three Top40 singles and a video heavily played on the young MTV. But the one most praised by AOR fanatics is this final record as Michael Stanley Band (he continued recording as solo artist) entitled "Inside Moves".
The album merges mid-eighties AOR sounds with radio friendly melodic rock, plenty of hooks and lots of keyboards played by the talented Kevin Raleigh who also share lead vocals with Stanley.
The album was originally released only on vinyl featuring 9 tracks, later issued for the first time on CD during the nineties.



This 2003 reissue is the first (and only) remastered version of "Inside Moves" including 5 bonuses. My favorite is "Hard Die The Heroes" only released as a single, and it was featured in the professional American football team Cleveland Browns video 'Masters Of The Gridiron'. It's that kind of anthem so '80s.
MSB should have been huge commercially, but EMI Records never properly supported the band nationwide.
A shame, because they were really good.


01 - Show Me Something
02 - No Big Deal
03 - When All Is Said & Done
04 - Somebody Else's Woman
05 - Here Comes The Kids
06 - Inside Moves
07 - Headlights
08 - Poor Side Of Town
09 - Bop Till Ya Drop
10 - Hard Die The Heroes (previously unreleased)
11 - Shut Up & Leave Me Alone (previously unreleased)
12 - Hey Angel (previously unreleased)
13 - Rock Me Easy (previously unreleased)
14 - Kiss It Off (previously unreleased)

Michael Stanley: vocals, guitar
Danny Powers: lead guitar, vocals
Kevin Raleigh: synths, organ, vocals
Bob Pelander: piano, synths, vocals
Michael Gismondi: bass
Tommy Dobeck: drums, percussion




MICHAEL STANLEY BAND Inside Moves remastered
.

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)
.

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
.

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
.

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
.

BLACKFOOT SUE - Red On Blue (1997)

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

Formed in Birmingham at beginning of the seventies, BLACKFOOT SUE scored a top 5 hit single in UK with their rock 'n roll often compared with Slade. But the band would become a reference for AOR fans during the '80s under a different moniker; Outside Edge.

Always driven by the core force of founder members and twin brothers Tom (vocals, bass) and David Farmer (drums), and after playing in different outfits between 1989-92, the guys decided to resurrect the name Blackfoot Sue after almost 20 years. Third brother Gary Farmer (guitar, backing vocals) and Steve Turner (lead guitar, keyboards) completed this new incarnation of the band.
This same line-up recorded a demo around 1990-1991, years later known as the bootleg 'Outside Edge; Call Me', but in fact that was what would go on to become the reformed Blackfoot Sue.

Blackfoot Sue recorded a new album, originally only released in Germany in 1995 as 'Talk Radio'. All these songs plus "Fall From Grace" (recorded later) were repackaged two years after by HTD Records and this time distributed all over Europe under the title "Red On Blue".



On "Red On Blue", Blackfoot Sue sounds absolutely early '90s Melodic Hard Rock more related to the American sound than British or European.
Songs like "F.O.D." or the remake of the old Blackfoot Sue song "Standing In The Road" are crafted in the Damn Yankees mould both in sound & style, the excellent "Book Of Life" akin Night Ranger, while songs such as "Fall From Grace", title track "Red On Blue" and specially the melodic "Goodbye" recall nineties Danger Danger (Paul Laine era).
Some numbers obviously have a Ouside Edge smell like the great mid-tempo / AORish "Small Town", and the pumping rocker "You're So Beautiful You're Dangerous", both filled with synths / keyboards in the background.



Blackfoot Sue's "Red On Blue" is not only quite unknown for MHR fans, but also really hard to find as went out of print many years ago. It's a good, rockin' melodic disc containing really nice songs and a fine production.
A collector's item.


01 - F.O.D.
02 - Talk Radio
03 - Standing In The Road
04 - Book Of Life
05 - Fall From Grace
06 - Small Town
07 - That's No Lie
08 - Red On Blue
09 - Goodbye
10 - You're So Beautiful You're Dangerous
11 - Better Than Being In Love

Tom Farmer: lead vocals, bass
David Farmer: drums, backing vocals
Gary Farmer: guitar, backing vocals
Steve Turner: lead guitar, keyboards




BLACKFOOT SUE Red On Blue
.

REQUEST & FILL CORNER 14

From now, all request & fills goes in this post Comments.
If you need an album or a single track, request it here, if you have it, be kind with other readers, upload the file and post the link here as well.
Access to this page will be placed at the right column ------>
(the "CLICK HERE" neon sign)
It will be opened in a new window.

Check this section regularly.
You'll find many albums uploaded by readers, not present on the main blog ...

Help each other people!


and don't forget to check out ARCHIVES:


ARCHIVES PART 9

ARCHIVES PART 10

ARCHIVES PART 11

ARCHIVES PART 12

ARCHIVES PART 13

take a deep look at the end of each part...
.