Category: Melodic Rock | AOR

Old Classic AOR connoisseurs already know NED DOHENY. His solo album ‘Hard Candy’ still remains as top favorite on many lists in the genre, and the follower ‘Prone’, though only released in Japan, was equally good.
Being absent in the business for 17-18 years, Ned is back with the new album “The Darkness Beyond The Fire”.

Doheny was under contract to a Japanese label in early ’90s, and the deal obligated him to deliver a final album. The tunes Ned wrote during that period were some of the most personal of his life, but the pressure to complete the album and the transformation he was undergoing obliged himself to release a body of work that was more demo than a finished product.
Thus, Ned revisted those tunes and re-recorded the whole thing including stellar musicians, with new arrangements and a polished production handled by himself.
The result is “The Darkness Beyond The Fire”, a classy West Coast / AOR recording.

The album takes off with “Between Two Worlds”, a superb breezy melodious track with an organic sound, driven by acoustic guitars, dreamy keyboards and using heavier, only male, top background vocalists: Sherwood Ball (Jay Graydon’s Airplay), Bryan Garofalo (Steve Perry Band), Joseph Williams (Toto) and himself, giving the song now a more depth and life-anchoring meaning.
“Perish The Thought” has a classic West Coast feel, rhythmically rich and deep, with closely arranged vocals supported by the great Maxine Lewis on the background.
On “Too Late For Love” and “Ghostdancer” he introduces some EWI winds of Steve Tavaglione to the arrangement, the background vocals are significantly reduced to avoid the sweetness, singing in a haunting manner coherently on both songs.
“The Secret Society Of Women” is incredibly smooth with a special bitter sounding concept, while “Love In The Rear View Mirror” has a more upbeat rhythm and a catchy percussion.

“Trail’s End” sounds much modern and really American, with a different approach than the rest of the tracks on the album. It’s one of the best and originally composed songs, but all are superbly written here, believe me.
“Life After Romance”, featuring Don Grusin’s acoustic piano, Sherwood Ball and Joseph Williams on backing vocals, has a romantic melancholy tone, and an exquisite, intimate lead vocal performance by Doheny. This is pure West Coast guys…
“In A Perfect World”, once written for a Japanese female vocal trio called Amazons released in 1995 with Doheny singing duet, seems to be the last song he has written and it is yet another everlasting love-affirming song, with a fantastic chorus.

For Ned Doheny his return to the music world took almost 20 years (a conflicting divorce and raise his son in-between) but well worth the wait.
“The Darkness Beyond The Fire” is the most personal album of his career, surely recorded in the way he wanted: with refined arrangements, a careful attention on every detail and a pristine production.
This is a beautifully crafted West Coast AOR album full of classic sounds, from an artist committed to his own style without care to what’s happening nowadays in music industry. “The Darkness Beyond The Fire” isn’t polluted by any actual trend, this is pure West Coast as it should be done.
If you hesitate to get it because you think this style is outdated, let me tell you, without imposing, that you’re terribly wrong… this music is pure class.
Buy it, and re-assure yourself that there are still genuine artists in this world. They need and deserve acknowledgment and applause.
“The Darkness Beyond The Fire” was originally released at the end of 2010 only in Japan, but it is available worldwide since the last month of 2011 with a slightly different cover artwork.
Highly Recommended.

01 – Between Two Worlds
02 – Perish The Thought
03 – Too Late For Love
04 – Ghostdancer
05 – The Secret Society Of Women
06 – Love In The Rear View Mirror
07 – Trail’s End
08 – Life After Romance
09 – In A Perfect World
10 – I Will Let You Go

Ned Doheny: Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards, Percussion, Producer
Musicians:
Keyboards: Cat Grey, Don Grusin, Greg Mathieson
Bass: Cat Grey, Jimmy Haslip
Drums: Gary Mallaber, Joey Heredia, Michael White
Percussion: Luis Conte
EWI: Steve Tavaglione
Violin: Charlie Bisharat
Background Vocals: Sherwood Ball, Brian Garofalo, Joseph Williams, Maxine Lewis, Leslie Smith, Marliyn Scott

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album

Band Fate
Info: Cruisin’ For A Bruisin’
Style: Melodic Rock / AOR
Years: 1988
Info: CBR 320 kbs
Info: 100,15 Mb
Info: Denmark

Tracklist:

01 – Beneath Da’ Coconuts.
02 – Love On The Rox.
03 – Knock On Wood.
04 – Lovers.
05 – Dead Boy, Cold Meat.
06 – Babe, You Got A Friend.
07 – Lock You Up.
08 – Cupid Shot Me.
09 – Diamond In The Rough.
10 – Send A Little Money.

Rip By: Bifford_od

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Band Jack Street Band
Info: Jack Street Band
Style: Melodic Rock / AOR
Years: 1982
Info: CBR 224 kbs
Info: 58.89 Mb
Info: USA

Tracklist:

01 – In Over My Head.
02 – Don’t You Wanna Be Loved.
03 – Two Hearts.
04 – Choosy.
05 – Annie.
06 – Baby It’s You.
07 – Not A Minute Too Soon.
08 – If I Had Your Love Again.
09 – Jupiters Theme.
10 – Vision.

Rip By: Kissmar

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TOWER CITY, the American trio who formed in 1988, are best known for their album ‘A Little Bit Of Fire’ which has a cult following amongst AOR loving fans worldwide, largely in Europe.

The album, recorded back in 1992 with the help of Mike Slamer (Streets, Steelhouse Lane, Seventh Key) features some of the best AOR / Melodic Rock songwriting you are ever likely to hear, sadly looked destined to never be heard, until the now defunct German label MTM Records released the album in 1996 gaining high praise to the band.
With the songs on that album having been written and recorded in the early nineties, by 1996, the band had since become known by the name Colorvine, which delivered a more progressive and alternative form of melodic rock that gained them a solid fan base within the USA.

Now here we are in 2011 and the music of Tower City will be heard in a way it never has before.
The band has remastered a selection of their best songs (including titles from the second ’98 album ‘All Or Nothing’), along with 4 new tracks that have been recorded in the last 7 years, entitled “The Ones That Matter”.

Saltis brothers said;
“We have never been inactive as musicians. Our music may not have been represented as we felt it should have the first time around.
We went back and looked at a lot of the tracks, picked some of our favorites, and revamped a collection that we could be proud of presenting to those listeners that still cared.
The 4 new tracks are representative of our growth together after the Tower City days.”

For me personally, Tower City’s music is littered with virtually everything that I love about the Melodic Rock / AOR genres.
Together with Steelhouse Lane, Tower City carried the flame during the second half of the nineties. In fact, both bands were somehow connected. Steelhouse Lane’s mastermind, Mike Slammer, helped this band in the artistic production department, songwriting and playing some guitars.
Tower City is a very, very good band, with a late ’80s MR/AOR arena style full of trademark hooks, lush melodies and monster choruses.
As brothers Saltis like to say: “Time passes, people change, but the good music remains!”
Highly Recommended.

01 – Moonlight
02 – Little Bit Of fire
03 – Smoke (New track 2011)
04 – In These Arms
05 – Talking To Sarah
06 – Ain’t Nobody To Love
07 – Say You Love Me (New track 2011)
08 – Six Strings (New track 2011)
09 – I’ll Sleep Tonight
10 – Love And Money
11 – Surrender
12 – Hot Water
13 – When It All Falls Down
14 – Wishbone (New track 2011)
15 – Closer To The Heart
16 – Hungry

Larry Saltis – Lead Vocals, Guitars
Tim Paul Weiner – Bass, Backing Vocals
Heath Saltis – Drums, Keyboards, Backing Vocals

Additional Musicians:
Scott Sanders – Guitars & Backing Vocals
Mike Slamer – Guitar
Billy Cioce – Drums

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album

Band John Rockwell
Info: Crossfire
Style: Hi Tech / AOR
Years: 1990
Info: CBR 192 kbs
Info: 73.13 Mb
Info: Germany

Tracklist:

01 – Wildlife.
02 – I’m Alive.
03 – Key Of Love.
04 – Still A Believer.
05 – The Cross.
06 – Timothy Leary.
07 – For Martin L King.
08 – Pump Up The Blues.
09 – Wings To Fly.
10 – Brigitte.
11 – X-Tra.

Rip By: Kissmar

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Band Ochsenknecht
Info: Girls Crossing
Style: Melodic Rock / Rock
Years: 1994
Info: mp3 CBR 320
Info: 122 mb
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Info: Germany

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Tracklisting:
1. Fantasy Town
2. World Of Girls
3. Blue Water
4. A Heart Can Be Broken
5. Holding You
6. Standing In The Shadows Of Love
7. The Road Leads Back To You
8. A Man Needs A Little Love
9. 1000 Miles
10. Still In Love
11. I’ll Be There
12. You Always Say Hello, To Say Goodbye

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Ellsworth Hall is the brain behind the Neo Prog project AETHELLIS and his trademark sound are the keyboards, lots of keyboards, as is heard on the second album “NorthUmbria”.
Listening to Aethellis brings me back about 25 years. Even though at times, some twists and turns make it obvious that this album is from the new millennium, there is always a strong early 80’s feel about this music.

Tagged a Neo Prog, in my opinion Aethellis style is eighties proggy AOR, with diverse influences ranging from Camel, ELP, Genesis and Tony Banks solo albums, but also a strong Pomp feel in the vein of Shooting Star, Saga, Asia and The Alan Parsons Project.
Ellsworth Hall is an amazing multi-instrumentalist and a good vocalist. As singer, he can be compared to the likes of Greg Lake, Steve Hackett and why not, John Wetton. Musically most of his compositions are short with a classic format, although “NorthUmbria” features a couple of long numbers firmly planted into the classic prog tradition.

The Aethellis style is very melodic based and the keyboard is the main instrument in all songs, but all the instruments find its place in the rhythmic tracks of this album.
Whe have catchy tunes such as the pompy “Dire Need” or “Sounds Good”, a great light-prog ballad in “Without A Sound” (where Aethellis sounds like earlier eighties Alan Parsons) and really good instrumentals as the rock-funkish “Celui Qui Soit La Bosse” or the beautiful crafted “The Penal Colony”, where Camel comes to mind.
The more classic prog is represented on the two movements of “Northumbria / Mephisto Breeze” which features breezy harmony vocals and “The Peace Path” where the balladry fuses with a commercial Genesis light side.

“NorthUmbria” is a truly enjoyable album of 80’s inspired prog including really well crafted songs.
The melody is the rule here, really easy listening and catchy but still adventurous enough to keep you interested from start to finish. Mr. Hall has also put a lot of effort into the production, as despite this is an independent CD the is sound remarkably good.
Hopefully Aethellis will find it’s audience even though 80’s inspired light prog is not really the flavor of the day, but I’m sure that any fan of the era (including AOR aficionados) will adore “NorthUmbria”.
Love it.

01 – Northumbria / Mephisto Breeze
02 – The Awakening
03 – Dire Need
04 – The Penal Colony
05 – Without A Sound
06 – Celui Qui Soit La Bosse
07 – Exchanger Prague
08 – The Peace Path
09 – Sounds Good

Ellsworth Hall (keyboards / vocals / guitar / synths)
Mark Van Natta (guitars / vocals)
Erik Marks (bass)
Chris Marks (guitar)
Joseph Dwyer (sax)
Mike Harrington (drums)

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Band Prism
Info: Prism
Style: Melodic Hard Rock / AOR
Years: 1977
Info: CBR 320 kbs
Info: 83,60 Mb
Info: Canada

Tracklist:

01 – Spaceship Superstar.
02 – Open Soul Surgery.
03 – It’s Over.
04 – Freewill.
05 – Take Me To The Kaptin.
06 – Vladivostok.
07 – Amelia.
08 – Julie.
09 – I Ain’t Lookin’ Anymore.

Rip By: Geshuk

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BandAir Supply
Info: The Collection
Style: AOR
Years: 2009
Info: mp3 CBR 256
Info: 124 mb
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Info: :Australia

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Tracklist:

01 All out of Love
02 Even the Nights Are Better
03 Empty Pages
04 Love and Other Bruises
05 Lost in Love
06 Every Woman in the World
07 Chances
08 Here I Am (Just When I Thought I Was Over You)
09 The One That You Love
10 Sweet Dreams
11 Young Love
12 Two Less Lonely People in the World
13 Making Love out of Nothing at All
14 Just as I Am
15 The Power of Love (You Are My Lady)
16 Lonely Is the Night

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Band Roxslyde
Info: Take One
Style: Classic Rock / AOR
Years: 1981
Info: CBR 192 kbs
Info: 51.87 Mb
Info: Canada

Tracklist:

01 – Better Not Lie.
02 – Morning Light.
03 – My Love.
04 – Rock candy.
05 – Sail Away.
06 – Wild Night.
07 – Jonah.
08 – …Blues.
09 – Love Is Possible.

Rip By: Wes & McKagan

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