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Artist: Various |
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You can just hear it, can't you! "Oh no, not another bleedin' compilation with the same old tunes". OK, that may be true to some extent, perhaps 9 or 10 of the usual suspects regurgitated over this double disc, but you do get another set of songs that will raise a few eyebrows. Most of the bands here are not so well known to some, so at leave they're having a say as best they can. Disc one begins with possibly the most famous single snare drum crack ever. Jeff Porcaro's intro to Toto's 'Hold The Line' instantly recognised by those in the over 30's club amongst us! Amazingly, it's not the Glee favourite, but 'Wheel In The Sky' by Journey that gets the nod here, not everyone's favourite track by them, and of course, you couldn't leave out 'The Final Countdown', could you! Even after a quarter of a century, this Europe classic still gets them up at parties, much to the horror of the kids as "Dad-dancing" commences! Joining these well-known clutch of songs, tracks by Britny Fox (Save), Pretty Maids (Love Games), and Riot (Bloodstreets) all get added to the mix to give any listener something "new" to hear, and why not? The groovy bass that leads into Loverboys 'Turn Me Loose' will have a few people scratching their heads as they know, they're sure, that they've heard it before, haven't they? Wait until 'We're An American Band' starts, the fun begins as they try to remember the name of the band. (Grand Funk Railroad, but say nowt!). At least they'll get who does 'Poison' and 'Bat Out Of Hell'. Surely!! Just under the radar of recognition, Cheap Trick appear courtesy of 'Can't Stop Falling Into Love' and Sammy Hagar's 1987 single 'Give To Live', though only really unrockiest of folk won't have heard of these artists. Disc Two opens with what you could say is THE best melodic rock song of all time, 'More Than A Feeling' by Boston, given a new lease of life due to a TV advert of late. The quiet build up to that perfect guitar riff still sends a shiver up the spine even after all this time. Again, the old gang appear, Scorpions (Wind Of Change), Bad English (When I See You Smile) and Hooters (Satellite), but as CD 1, some of the well known bands are represented by their lesser known songs that they would usually be by. Jefferson Starship 'No Way Out', Blue Oyster Cult's 'Astronomy' and Kansas 'Dust In The Wind' not everyone's first choice either, but that's the beauty of this collection as a whole, you get that something different from these bands for a change. Even the voice of Melodic Rock, Steve Perry, gets an outing solo-wise with the easy-listening 'Foolish Heart'. Keeping him company is Steve Lukather (ex-Toto), proving there is life after being in such a well known band, with his corker of a song 'Lonely Beat Of My Heart'. The bands not known to those who are used to the "same old, same old" as it were, Firehouse - 'When I Look In Your Eyes', Warrant - 'Heaven' and The Outfield - 'Voices Of Babylon', all show that if you dig just that bit deeper, you'll find a gem or two just waiting to be found and given a chance to shine. Again, you couldn't leave out a classic or two, and these come in the form of Extreme's ballad 'More Than Words' and Peter Frampton's 'Show Me The Way', the second live track after Lynard Skynyrd 'Travellin' Man' on CD 1. what more could you want!! It's more than likely not a coincidence that due to the rise again of 80's melodic rock this album has been released, thankfully giving a new generation a chance to hear what a good style of rock music melodic rock is. As a famous rock singer has cleverly put it ... "Melodic Rock is the more welcome cousin of Classic Rock". In that case, embrace it, love it, live it, but most of all, pass it on and keep it's flame alive. Review by : Bob Baldwin |
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Disc 1
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Disc 2
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All content copyright of The Mayfair Mall Zine unless otherwise stated. |
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