I have just learned of the death of former Cradle of Filth bassist, Jon Kennedy. He was 46. His tenure with Cradle of Filth wasn’t that long, only just over a year back in the 1990s but his former band mates still remembered him fondly.
For the full story: https://www.metalsucks.net/2023/09/27/former-cradle-of-filth-bassist-jon-kennedy-dead-at-46/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=
Rest in peace Jon.
Being perfectly blunt, I was never a true Michael Bolton fan. I didn’t mind his music but it wasn’t hard rock enough for me. On the other hand, I didn’t dislike him or his music. First, I liked his image, if I didn’t know better, with his long hair and dress style, I would have thought he would have fit perfectly in with the likes of Night Ranger or Survivor. I’m not sure if it was going on in America but in the UK, the Stock, Aiken and Waterman brigade brought forth a genre I called ‘conformist rock.’ All their male singers had short hair and wore suits which was enough to put me off them before they even began to sing, I’m looking at you Rick Astley.
Michael Bolton has been something corporate record companies have always craved since Elvis, a white male singer with a black male sounding voice. This sounds the case for sure on the album, “Soul Provider.” The best example is his cover of the Ray Charles classic, “Georgia On My Mind.” I won’t say that he knocks it out of the park but he does a reasonably good job on it.
It was one of five songs from the album which were released as singles. The others were “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You,” “How Can We Be Lovers,” “You Wouldn’t Know Love” and “When I’m Back On My Feet Again.” The one I remember most was “How Can We Be Lovers,” which Michael wrote with one Desmond Child. Probably because there is a cool guitar solo on it. “You Wouldn’t Know Love” rocks quite a lot as well and also has a cool guitar solo. While the others aren’t rock outs they would all as one critic put it, be good for stocking the romantic fires in the bedroom. I would tend to agree with this critic. Those songs would probably have been more successful in obtaining paradise by the dashboard light than “Beth” or “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.” These singles just ooze soul.
Getting to the lesser known songs, one song which caught my attention was “It’s Only My Heart.” Steve Lukather plays guitar on it which is most likely why I like the guitar solo which brings in the song. Thinking back to the 1980s, this track would have fit on a lot of Hollywood soundtracks. In a movie, I could easily hear this song coming in at the big climax after the hero downs the bad guy and gets the girl. There is quite a bit of soul to “Love Cuts Deep” and if you ignore the bonus track, then “Stand Up For Love” is a lovely ballad to take the album home.
Track Listing:
Michael Bolton- lead and backing vocals
Like Cher and Tina Turner, Michael has an army of musicians and back up singers play on the album. So, I’ll just highlight a few.
Steve Lukather- guitar (track 3)
Michael Landau- guitar
John McCurry- guitar (tracks 5 and 6)
Richard Marx- backing vocals
Kenny G- saxophone (track 1)
Bobby Chouinard- drums (track 5)
Dianne Warren- keyboards
After over 18 years of marriage, I have only just discovered that Mrs. 80smetalman is a Michael Bolton fan and she showed me this album. Something to keep in mind for the future. I admit I’m mellowing slightly with age but there Michael Bolton brings some soul to “Soul Provider.”
Next post: Georgia Satellites- In the Land of Salvation and Sin
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Scottish band, Gun, is proof that I didn’t pay enough attention to the music scene in 1989. As you know, I had other things to think about back in 1989, otherwise, I would have paid more attention to this band and their debut album, “Taking on the World.” I remember seeing them when they were on “Top of the Pops,” where they played the big single and album opener, “Better Days” and I now remember that I liked the song back then. Of course, now I get to appreciate the entire album.
If I had paid more attention to Gun back in the day, this album would have been posted later on in the tour of 1989 as they definitely obscure the boundary between hard rock and metal, as if it’s not obscured enough. The mentioned opener is a great melodic rock track and it is not a surprise to me that it cracked the UK top 40. However, the second track, “The Feeling Within,” starts with some cool metal sounding riffs and if the guitars continued in this vein, it would have been a metal scorcher! Still, it’s a great melodic metal tune with some great guitar work. I reckon it’s what U2 would have sounded like if they went heavy metal.
An even more metal sounding track is “Inside Out.” It opens with a cool guitar solo and carries on with a Black Veil Brides kind of vibe. Actually, as they were twenty years or so ahead, maybe BVB were influenced by Gun, stranger things have happened. I do love the guitar work and I would love to know which of the two guitarists lays down the guitar solo. Since it was released as a single, I won’t call it a hidden gem but it is one of the best songs on the album.
More good guitar riffs and a thumping bass line makes “Money (Everybody Loves Her.) This one has a very nice metal swagger to it as well as a blistering guitar solo and I love the backing vocals at the chorus. The title track marks the end of the first half of the album. Things slow down a little on this as it starts with an acoustic guitar and Mark Rankin shows versatility in his voice. This nice little ballad does the job perfectly and it was the final single released from the album. It did chart but failed to reach the top 40 but who really cares about that. It’s a nice little ditty.
The second half of the album kicks off with some more interesting guitar riff/bass line combo from “Shame On You.” There is a definite U2 influence on this one at least until the drumroll from livens things up. I do like the change up in Mark’s vocals and some more cool guitar hooks. Metal meets blues on “Can’t Get Any Lower.” I think this is meant to be a more melancholy song but the guitars in the back betray that feeling. Maybe it’s down to the title being a little too repetitive. The rhythm guitar is the thing to note here.
Track 8 reveals the hidden gem which is “Something to Believe In.” You get some interesting metal riffs with a depressing but very likeable vocal style and backing vocals. Penultimate track, “Girls in Love” sounds like Duran Duran going heavy metal. I can actually hear a Duranie vibe here but I still don’t hate it. Gun puts a hard rock spin on it which you cannot fail to like, the guitar solo helps. That brings us to the closer, “I’ll Be Waiting.” While it’s not a weak track in any sense, it does let you sit back and reflect on how great an album this is as it takes the album to its natural conclusion. A fine guitar solo finalizes the fact.
Track Listing:
Mark Rankin- vocals
Giuliano Gizzi- guitar
Baby Stafford- guitar
Dante Gizzi- bass
Scott Shields- drums
Additional Musicians:
Sharleen Spiteri- backing vocals (tracks 2 and 10)
Scott Fraser- bass (tracks 7 and 9)
Alan Thornton- backing vocals
David Aitken- guitar
Jim McDermott- drums
I know it’s very early in the tour of 1989 but I think I have found a candidate for best album which I should have taken more notice of. Congrats to Gun.
Next post: Michael Bolton- Soul Provider
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1989 saw Transvision Vamp back with their second album, “Velveteen.” They woke me and a lot of Great Britain up with their very powerful hit, “Baby, I Don’t Care.” I remember this song blasting out the juke box of several pubs and whenever it did, there was definitely an electricity in the room. Normally, I get a little suspicious when a hit single opens an album because it leads me to think the rest of the album might be a little lacking. In the case of “Velveteen,” it was a great way to start the album. In fact, I regret not having this album on cassette because I had one of those clock, cassette radios and this would have been cool to wake up to in the morning.
Like Cher did on “Heart of Stone,” the first three tracks on “Velveteen” were released as singles. Following the explode in your face “Baby, I Don’t Care” is the slightly more melodic rocker “The Only One.” I emphasize the slightly because the melody fits the power chords very well. A nice little ditty to bob along to. After that, they go a little mellow on the third single, the 1950s influenced “Landslide of Love.” Imagine if they had power chords like this back in the 50’s. Even though they were singles, I can say that three songs in and the album is sounding pretty good.
Fourth track, “Falling for a Goldmine,” is a ballad and despite what some critics might have said, Transivision Vamp pulls it off. There is no fault in the musicianship on the song and of course as she does with all of the tracks, Wendy James’s voice is the key to the song. She does more than just scream on this one and there are some interesting guitar hooks. I’m a little surprised this one wasn’t released as a single as well, therefore, it’s a candidate for hidden gem.
That brings up an interesting point on the album, the other cuts, except for the closer, which I’ll get to in a minute, are all possible hidden gems. There isn’t much between them and I mean that in a good way. “Kiss the Stars,” has a cool intro and is true alternative rock with the steady rhythm of the guitar and synthesizer in the background and a small guitar solo. It’s a bit way out there. Okay, I wouldn’t class the short two-minute ballad like “Song to the Stars” as a hidden gem but it’s still an amusing listen.
I think in the hidden gem sweepstakes, “Kiss Their Sons,” slightly beats out “Falling for a Goldmine.” I’d call this classic punk with some cool power chords and a nice little bass hook. Plus, it does have the best guitar solo on the album. Following on is the fourth single from the album, “Born to Be Sold.” This one is similar in style to “Kiss Their Sons” and I think the topic of the song is why it was released as a single. It’s about celebrities who are sold to us by the corporate entertainment industry. A lot of great stars get mentioned in it.
“Pay the Ghosts” is a solid rocker, actually, it’s almost metal with some nice little guitar hooks in it. It’s another reason why it was a close call for finding the hidden gem. Penultimate track, “Bad Valentine” might not qualify for hidden gem but it’s an amusing song. That brings me to the closing title track. “Velveteen” is in no way a bad song or even a bad closer, my only complaint is that at nine minutes, it does drag on too long. That might work with “Freebird” or “A Child in Time” but not so well here. However, it doesn’t detract at all from the album so I can sing the praises of it. One thing to note, unlike their previous album, “Pop Art,” there are no songs inciting girl on girl violence.
Track Listing:
Wendy James- vocals
Nick Christian Sayer- guitar
Dave Parsons- bass
Tex Axile- keyboards
Kevin Armstrong- guitar
I’ll probably say this about many albums of 1989 but “Velveteen” took Transvision Vamp out of the 1980s on an absolute high.
Next post: Gun- Taking on the World
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In my last post, I stated that this post was why it was a shame AC/DC didn’t put out an album in 1989. Actually, I’m surprised no one picked up on it but hey-ho. For those who have been following me for quite some time, know that it was an 80smetalman tradition that my posts about AC/DC albums usually coincided with AC/DC tribute band, Hells Bells, coming to town. I hadn’t seen them in five years due to Covid and the venue not advertising their visit last year. So, I was totally excited about seeing them last night.
A few days ago, Mike Ladano wrote a post about using cell phones at concerts, the pros and cons of which created some debate. My take on this is that first, I agreed with him about people recording the entire show. To me, that takes away the point of going in the first place. You can’t really enjoy what’s happening on stage if you’re behind your cell phone the entire time. However, I have no problem with recording snippets of the show in order for me to share some of the experience with all of you. Now we get to see how effective it was. Here’s the show.
First up was the band Bombshell, who supported Hells Bells in the past. What is great about them is the fact that they take some popular pop songs and really rock them out. If I was to do an ‘Original vs. Cover’ post with them and some of the songs they covered, the cover would win. First up was a really rocking cover of Lady Ga-Ga’s “Let’s Dance.” When I heard this, I knew right then it was going to be a fantastic night. Other songs which got the Bombshell treatment were The Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams” and Nena’s “99 Red Balloons,” although the third verse was sung in German. However, they did cover some great rock and metal tunes like my favourite Fleetwood Mac song, “Go Your Own Way,” as well as amazing covers of Guns ‘N’ Roses “Paradise City” and Evanescence “Bring Me To Life.”
I wish Facebook wasn’t messing me around at the moment because I would like to know the names of the singer and the lead guitarist who can really shred. He did go through the crowd as he soloed his way through “Paradise City.” Insert tired cliche but Bombshell set things up for the rest of the evening.
The first thing I noticed about Hells Bells when they took the stage was that, except for the singer, the rest of the band had entirely changed. But I guess a lot can happen in five years and the pandemic certainly didn’t help. Nevertheless, it didn’t stop them from totally kicking ass on the night. What I have always loved about seeing Hells Bells is that whenever they come, they never play the same set twice, they mix things up quite a lot. I know that’s quite easy to do with AD/DC’s vast discography but they play the ‘hits’ as well as many of the deep cuts. I never thought they would play, “Shoot to Thrill” but they did and as always, Hells Bells are note perfect in regards to the band they’re laying tribute to. Not wanting to tax my memory too much, I will list the songs I remember from last night but before I do, let me say they were absolutely magnificent.
Riff Raff
Shot in the Dark
Back in Black
Thunderstruck
Shoot to Thrill
Let There Be Rock
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
Bad Boy Boogie
You Shook Me All Night Long
Touch Too Much
Highway to Hell
For Those About to Rock, We Salute You (with computerized cannon)
Encore:
Ace of Spades (tribute to Lemmy)
Whole Lotta Rosie
Note: These are the songs I remember from last night, I shouldn’t have drunk 5 pints, nor are they all in the right order. Knowing me, I will remember more and comeback and make additions. I can also add that the lead guitarist did the Angus Young striptease act and we drank a toast to Bon and Malcolm in Rock Heaven. It was truly a magical night.
It was great to see Hells Bells after five years and even better to see and hear that despite the personnel changes, they do AC/DC proud. Full praise needs to be given to Bombshell for being such a great opening act. Finally, bassist Danny Ball deserves a medal from playing in two bands on the night.
Next post: Transvision Vamp- Velveteen
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The opening song on Cher’s 1989 album, “Heart of Stone,” “If I Could Turn Back Time,” showed me that she was capable of rocking. Yes, I know that I should have remembered her previous self-titled album, but I didn’t but the memory of it came back when I wrote about it in the tour of 1987. Anyhow, “If I Could Turn Back Time” was a big hit for Cher, charting in a number of countries and it appears on several rock compilation albums I own. I think that explains it all about that song.
With all that said, it’s the second track, “Just Like Jesse James,” which I really love more. I’m not the only one because after a brief search, it charted better in some countries than the previous mentioned song. I love the country rock feel to this song and the guitar solo by John McCurry is cool. The tempo has me bobbing my head along with the beat. Great song.
Third track, “You Wouldn’t Know Love” is one of those 1980s, sounding rock songs in the field of Night Ranger. Not a bad thing and it’s a decent song and another guitarist, Michael Landau, fires off a nice guitar solo. It’s funny that the first four songs on the album were released as singles. The final of these four is the title track, which has a nice little acoustic guitar opening. It’s kind of an acoustic ballad with some great backing vocals behind Cher’s phenomenal voice.
Always looking for hidden gems, tracks 5-11 give me a lot to choose from. One song which is a definite contender is “Does Anybody Really Fall in Love Anymore?” Cher gets assistance from Jon Bon Jovi and Ritchie Sambora as they wrote the song and it’s great to see Cher hooking up with some of those who made her previous album great. That includes, yes, Steve Lukather but he plays on the first track. But there is something good in all of these tracks and provided further proof that Cher could rock. That brings me to the true hidden gem, “Love on the Rooftop” is a great rocker, the way the guitars kick in. When the guitar isn’t engaged, the bass line does its job in holding things together and I do like that sax solo. It was one of the four songs on the album written by Desmond Child. It can also be why “Emotional Fire” comes a very close second in the hidden gem search. But all of these tracks prove Cher’s ability to rock out!
“Heart of Stone” closes with Cher singing a duet with Peter Cetara from Chicago on “After All.” Their chemistry is plain to hear and the song is a great way to close the album. It was another song which charted in a number of countries, so Cher must be given full marks here as those who played on the album.
Track Listing
Cher- lead vocals
Like on her previous album, a huge army of musicians was recruited to play on this one. Here are some of the more noted ones.
Steve Lukather
Waddy Watchell
Peter Cetara
Andrew Gold
Diane Warren
Michael Bolton
Hugh McDonald
Bonnie Tyler
In the late 1980s, Cher put out two hard rocking albums, “Heart of Stone” was the second of those and it’s a brilliant album. It’s a shame that she didn’t continue in this vein, don’t get me started on “The Shoop Shoop Song.” I could easily picture her on the stage at Download rocking to the masses.
Next post: It’s a shame AC/DC didn’t put out and album in 1989.
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Here’s further evidence toward the notion that I was regressing back to the days of AM radio or at the very least, getting most of my music from “Top of the Pops” back in 1989. My experience of Scottish band Texas back then came from their hit, “I Don’t Want a Lover.” Even more damning in my case is that I forgot how good this song was. The term ‘pop rock’ gets thrown around quite a bit but with this song, Texas makes the term real. A few years earlier, I would have at least explored the debut album, “Southside,” and most likely would have bought this album.
What Texas do on the album is take country rock, pop rock and alternative rock and meld it together into something great. The main contributor to the meld is the vocals of Sharleen Spiteri. Her no nonsense singing style is spot on. She doesn’t go over the top with any of her vocals but keeps things in the zone. However, despite what some critics might have said, she doesn’t sound the same on each track. Proof is her efforts on the very bluesy sounding “Everyday Now.” It’s a track which one can really get absorbed into, one to sit back and weave your head side to side while listening.
Guitarist Ally McEarlaine will not be mentioned among the many guitar gods and that’s no disrespect to him. He doesn’t play too many blistering solos on the album but once you listen to his Ry Cooder sounding slide guitar work on the title track you will become a believer and give him the respect due. With that said, he does lay down an impressive solo on “Prayer for You” and he does an even more impressive one, on the hidden gem, “Thrill Has Gone.” Actually, it could be argued that it’s not hidden as it was released as a single but only hit #60 in the UK, although it did get to nineteen in New Zealand. I never noticed it so to me, it’s hidden.
Reading many of the music blogs out there, one thing I can thank all of you for is that now when I listen to an album, I keep more of an ear out for basslines. In this case, it’s very well that I do so because Johnny McElhone lays down some really good ones, especially on the first two tracks of the album. Again, like his bandmate, Ally, he doesn’t have to do anything flamboyant, he just puts down a strong line which anchors the rest of the band.
That brings me to the drummer, Stuart Kerr. Like the others in the band, he doesn’t do anything ultra fancy and like the others, he doesn’t need to. There are no Neil Peart like drum rolls on any of the tracks. Instead, he just provides a good solid beat throughout the album but there are some good drum fills, like on the hidden gem. The result is you get four really good musicians who came together to put out a really good album.
Track Listing:
Sharleen Spiteri- guitar, lead vocals
Stuart Kerr- backing vocals, drums
Ally McErlaine- guitar
Johnny McElhone- bass
Sometimes that thing called life really gets in the way of discovering good music. That’s my excuse for not paying as much attention to Texas back in 1989 as I should. “Southside” is a very good album.
Next post: Cher- Heart of Stone
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To sign the petition to give Bruce Dickinson a knighthood, click the link: https://www.change.org/p/special-honours-committees-for-knighthoods-a-knighthood-for-bruce-dickinson
Sometimes, I wonder if I didn’t go near full circle in the way I got my music in 1989. As a teen back in the late 1970s, all I had was an AM radio, where the local stations would only play the top hits. To seek out any other music, I had to hit the record shops or word of mouth. In 1989, I was drifting away from the serious metal scene due to having a young family and most of my music information came from two TV sources, “Top of the Pops” or a weekly programme called “The Chart Show.” At least the latter would show the top ten metal tunes that week.
Where am I going with this? Well, that’s the backstory behind today’s post. My first experience of Richard Marx came from “Top of the Pops” through his number one single, “Right Here Waiting.” It is a nice ballad but it gave me the impression for many years that Richard only did ballads. Oh, another amusing true story behind that song. By 1990, I was a full fledged Mormon and I remember someone complaining that when the song was played at a young person’s dance, there was a complaint about the suggestive lyrics. Maybe it’s me, but I don’t hear any.
More credit to Damien here but it was he who told me that Richard could rock and it was a pleasant discovery when I reviewed Richard’s debut album. Soppy ballad aside, Mr. Marx rocks just as much on this second album, “Repeat Offender.” Opener, “Nothing You Can Do About It,” grabs you by both ears and lets you know that Richard is here to rock. It also helps that Steve Lukather, yes that one, lays down the guitar solo on it. The rocking carries on with the next track, “Satisfied.”
We get a power ballad on “Angelia” and like Tina Turner, Richard got a lot of good musicians to play on his album. Bruce Gaitsch of Chicago fame carries out the guitar duties on this track and several others and there’s a cool sax part as well. Still it sounds quite Europe. More rocking returns on “Too Late to Say Goodbye.” I only wish the guitars were turned up a little more.
Following the mentioned big hit, which the more I listen to it the more Bryan Adams it sounds, comes “Heart on the Line,” which is my choice for hidden gem. Richard, with Bruce’s help, put out a blinder of a rocker on this one and Bruce definitely shows his guitar chops. I could hear this song metallized even with the cool sax solo. Richard then turns in a funky jazz direction with “Real World.” With the horns and guitar solo, this song has oodles of swagger to go around. Good to hear Richard stretching out and having some fun.
While no more soppy ballads appear on the remainder of the tracks, Richard does venture a little into synth pop territory on “If You Don’t Want My Love.” It’s not a bad track but certainly not one of the better ones on the album. However, he does have some good fun on the straight forward rocker, “That Was Lulu.” There are nice little guitar and sax hooks on the song and I think it might be about a ‘bad girl’ so this is a fun song all around. Penultimate track, “Wait for the Sunrise” is a good melodic rocker which sounds like it might have been a decent closer. However, the actual closer, “Children of the Night,” is better suited for the task. Proceeds from the song went to a charity for runaway children. Anyway, it was the best way to end the album because it’s a very good closer.
Track Listing:
Richard Marx- lead and backing vocals
Like Tina Tuner’s album, there are just too many musicians who played on the album to name. So, I will just highlight some of the main ones.
Steve Lukather- guitar (track 1)
Bruce Graitsch- guitar (tracks 2,3,5,6 &8)
Randy Jackson- bass (tracks 2,6 &8)
Michael Baird- drums (tracks 1 and 2)
Fee Waybill, Kevin Cronin, Bobby Kimball- backing vocals
With “Repeat Offender,” Richard Marx was on top of the world in 1989 and it carried on to 1990 as “Right Here Waiting” would go number one in several countries, including the UK. I wish that I hadn’t simply assumed he was a ballad guy because he does rock.
Next post: Texas- Southside
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Back when I was starting to collect my list for 1989 albums, someone, (I can’t remember who) informed me of this “Original Sin” album by Pandora’s Box. Intrigued, I added it to the list and now that I’ve had several listens to the album, I’m quite impressed. The album flopped commercially, big time but many of the songs would be covered by future artists, including Meatloaf on his “Bat Out of Hell 2” and “3” albums.
Pandora’s Box was an all female singing group put together by Jim Steinman in the 1980s. The singers appeared on “Bat Out of Hell” and Fire Inc, who sung on the soundtrack of the film “Streets of Fire.” The band included:
Elaine Caswell
Ellen Foley
Gina Taylor
Deliria Wilde
Jim Steinman
Like I mentioned, many of the songs would found themselves being covered by future artists. Two songs of note would be “Good Girls Go to Heaven (Bad Girls Go Everywhere)” and “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” would appear on Meatloaf albums and “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” would also be covered by Celine Dion. Still, the originals here are done very well. There is also a cover of The Doors song, “Twentieth Century Fox” but the gender pronouns have been switched. There is also a brief intro alluding to the Jimi Hendrix classic, “Foxy Lady.”
The best song on the album and also the hidden gem because the only attempt at a cover would be a demo on an ill fated album by Canadian vocalist Karrine Hannah is “Safe Sex.” The song is sung solo by Gina Taylor who attacks the song with loads of heart. It’s a power ballad type which really hits home. Another interesting track is the spoken word monologue by Ellen Foley called, “The Want Ad.” On this track, Ellen moans about the men who have taken advantage of her or the good ones who wouldn’t answer her ad. It’s all done very brilliantly as her monologue on the opener, “The Invocation.” Jim also does a monologue on “I’ve Been Dreaming Up a Storm” and that’s okay too.
Various short instrumental tracks are performed by various orchestras. The Warsaw National Orchestra performs on “Requiem Metal.” The New York Philharmonic plays on “The Opening of the Box.” Furthermore, Ellen Foley is backed up by the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra on “Twentieth Century Fox.” It all adds a new interesting content to the album. Commercial flop or not, full marks should be given to Jim for his noble effort here.
Track Listing:
You got to give Jim Steinman credit for a brave effort. He put together a great album here even if it didn’t do well commercially. However, it did provide future ways to success to other artists and I can hear why.
Next post: Repeat Offender
To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com
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Honestly, it wasn’t my intention to kick off 1989 with three great female vocalists. First, there was the underrated Carol Decker of T’Pau fame. followed on by the legendary late Tina Turner. Now, we move to Canada where the spotlight shines on Alannah Myles. This brings me to another point. If it hadn’t been for reader, Damien McKee, I would have posted Alannah in the one hit wonders section of the 1989 tour. After all, she is best known for her monster hit, “Black Velvet,” which is still well known today, I have it on a couple of compilation CDs. Therefore, I must thank Damien for pointing me to her fantastic debut album.
Now I must hang my head in shame to my Canadian contingent. For years, as a result of “Black Velvet,” I thought Alannah was from the American South. The song has a Southern Rock boogie vibe and I can say the same for the track “Love Is” and the swamp music sounding closer, “Hurry Make Love.” So, I hope I can be forgiven for thinking she was a product of the South and not Canadian. Then again, I can always play the ‘good music has no borders’ card.
If I had paid more attention, any attention actually, I would have waited to the rock/metal phase of the 1989 tour to post about this album. Because many of the other songs, starting with the opener, really cook here. Some are bordering on heavy metal, like the opener. Then there’s the hidden gem on the album. “Rock This Place” punches you in the face with the power chords but has a really cool swagger to go with it as well and a cool guitar solo. In addition, and this is my weird mind at play, but the opening drums sound very similar to my favourite KISS song, “I Love It Loud.” It ticks all the boxes for me.
Alannah isn’t afraid to sing a ballad and she does a marvelous job on “Lover of Mine.” It’s a ballad in the true sense and her vocals are perfect for it. Penultimate track, “Who Loves You,” starts as if it’s going to be another ballad but not long into the song, things go very up-tempo and the ballad becomes a very cool power ballad. There can be no argument against the versatility of her voice.
If a gun was put to my head and I had to choose the most metal song on the album, then it would have to be “Kick Start My Heart.” I could put this one on a metal compilation and very few would debate me on the metal quality of the song. The power chords and the guitar solo back up the vocals in perfect metal harmony. While they might not be quite as metal sounding, the tracks “If You Want To” and “Just One Kiss,” make good additions to the album. I really do like the bassline on the former.
Track Listing:
Alannah Myles- lead, backing vocals
David Taylor- keyboards, bass, backing vocals, track 1; fretless bass, track 3
Bob Bartolucci- guitar
Kurt Schefter- guitar
David Whipper- acoustic guitar, mandolin
Steve Webster- bass, except track 3
Jorn Andersen- drums, except track 9
Gary Craig- drums track 9
Michael Sloski- percussion
John Johnson- saxophone
Rick Waychesko- trumpet
Backing vocals:
Jackie Richardson- track 1
Christopher Ward- tracks 1, 2
Peter Fredette- tracks 4, 6, 7
Dean McTaggart- tracks 4 and 6
Lisa Diabello- tracks 6 and 8
Thanks go out to Damien for pointing me to this album. In the future, if anyone calls Alannah Myles a one hit wonder, I’m going to point them to this album.
Next post: Pandora’s Box- Original Sin
To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com
To sign the petition to give Bruce Dickinson a knighthood, click the link: https://www.change.org/p/special-honours-committees-for-knighthoods-a-knighthood-for-bruce-dickinson
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