Great Rock/Metal Albums of 1983: Aldo Nova- Subject…Aldo Nova

“Subject…Aldo Nova” was the follow up to Aldo’s much adored debut album. The big question will always be: Was it as good as the first? At first, I was tempted to answer no but after a few more listens, I’m not so sure. On “Subject,” Aldo does go for a more commercial 1980s sound and therefore it’s not as hard rock as the debut. However, the hard stuff definitely does not totally disappear on the album. Maybe he was under pressure from the record company to go for a more commercially viable sound but I can’t say. It’s still a very good album nonetheless.

The first three tracks are all space rock sounding instrumentals which can easily be blended into a single track. These tracks tell you from the outset that “Subject” is going to be a little different. “Monkey On Your Back” does bring things back to what I liked about the first album. In fact, it reminds me quite a bit of “Fantasy” so you know it’s a cool song. From there, things go even harder with the next two songs and he definitely nails the guitar solo on “Cry Baby Cry.”

Further evidence that Aldo is not trying to veer too far away from the first album’s format comes with the first power ballad, “Victim of a Broken Heart.” Unfortunately, this song is more ballad and less power but he still manages to land another great guitar solo which saves the song for me. Then comes the thirty-nine second “Africa (Primal Love)” which has me wondering: Was this necessary? Personally, I don’t see the point of it being included here but hey ho, things return to normal with “Hold Back the Night.” The big difference here was that there is a bit of barely audible talking in the middle which made me stop what I was doing and listen intently to hear what he was saying. I still couldn’t make it out. But there’s another cool guitar solo after so who cares?

“Always Be Mine” ventures back into the realm of more commercial rock so I’m assuming that it was an intended single. The chorus is rather catchy so that’s a feather in its cap. After “All Night Long,” which is more synth sounding but starts with a good solo, the album kind of goes out the same way it came in, with two short instrumentals only the final track, “Paradise” is a full length song and a bit of a power ballad but the guitar solo does take the album out on an absolute high. All in all, “Subject” doesn’t quite climb to the heights reached by its predecessor but still gets pretty high up the mountain.

Track Listing:

1. Subject’s Theme
2. Armageddon (Race Cars)
3. Armageddon
4. Monkey On Your Back
5. Hey Operator
6. Cry Baby Cry
7. Victim of a Broken Heart
8. Africa (Primal Love)
9. Hold Back the Night
10. Always Be Mine
11. All Night Long
12. War Song
13. Prelude to Paradise
14. Paradise

Aldo Nova

Aldo Nova- guitars, vocals

Billy Carmassi- drums

David Sikes- bass on track 5

Neal Jason- bass on tracks 8,9,10 and 12

Steve Buslowe- bass on track 11

Dennis Chartrand- piano

Chuck Burgi- drums on track 10

Kevin Carlson- 2nd guitar solo on tracks 3 and 12

Aldo Nova had hit the ground running with his debut album and still going strong on “Subject.” It seemed as far as American commercial rock was concerned, he would disappear but I can’t help thinking that his other albums are as good as his first two.

Next post: Joan Jett and the Blackhearts- Album

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