NATION – TAKE OFF (1990)

This CD was pressed in 1990 on a small Indie label, expect perfect Melodicrock from Switzerland in the vein of Karo;Roko,Vice, if you like these you will love this. Great swiss keyboard driven Hard/AOR with a good production for an indie band.

Band members: Roger Picano Keyboards, D.C. Ricci Lead Vocals, Ron Gut Guitars, Andy Kay Bass, Adi McPool Drums, Steve Gander Guitars.

Tracklisting: 1. Lonely Is The Hunter 2. Heartbeat 3. Love Is History 4. Forever 5. Tonight 6. Never Too Late

ALESTE - ALESTE (Il Gioco) (1993, PolyGram Chile)

Here is one of the rarest Latin Aor CDs ever. These guys are from Chile and they recorded a great melodic rock/aor album back in 1993. ALESTE broke all records in his homeland when his first album achieved gold category and received the coveted award for APES Revelation of the Year (Best New Group) after only three months since its release. The band reached new heights when invited to act during the "Festival of Viña del Mar" in Chile and the video for the first single "Hay un limite" reached third place on MTV Latino in 1994. With this first single, ALESTE gets recognition and figuration in other Latin American countries such as Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia. Using his popularity and success in radio cards, ALESTE decided to publish the song "Tiempo Blanco" mentioned that the issue of suicide, and encourages young people to remain alive. But it was the third single of ALESTE "Nadie como yo" which earned Rodrigo Espinoza a great remarks as solo artist and helped him win the "Radio Aurora Award" for his contribution to music.


The Band: Rodrigo Espinoza, vocals. Alfredo Alonso, guitars. Ricardo Bianco, bass. Lito Zerené, drums. Juan Pablo Nieto, keyboards.
Tracklisting: 1.- Rastros 2.- Tiempo Blaco 3.- Como La Primera Vez 4.- Nadie Como Yo 5.- Prisionera 6.- Cruzando El Mar 7.- Nunca Lo Conseguiras 8.- Hay Un Limite 9.- La Balsa 10.- Solos 11.- Palabras De Amor 12.- Nieve Artificial 13.- Limite (Unpluged)

VERA CRUZ – HOT GAMES (1989, Aurophon)

The band plays breathtaking melodic AOR rock. For fans of KARO, FATE and ROKO. Great vocals, excellent keys, perfect guitars and monster hooks. This ultra rare album was released in 1989 on Aurophon, a very small label and only a handful of these were pressed on CD back in 1989. Most elite collectors do not even know this CD exists.

The band: Andy Layer Vocals, Guitars. Till Janouschek, Keyboards. Armin Wagner, Bass. Tobi Janouschek, Guitars. Dieter Trabert, Drums.

Tracklisting: 1.- One Way or Another 2.-Don't Smash The Mirror 3.-Hot Game 4.-Lonely Times 5.-Slave of Your Heart 6.-Burn Me 7.-Head Over Heels 8.-Another Year 9.-Weenah 10. Another Beat of the Heart 11.-Frontiers.

KING OF HEARTS - 1989 (1999, Cool Sound Inc.)

King Of Hearts were a band project put together by session players Bruce Gaitsch and George Hawkins.The guys were then joined by Kelly Keagy and Tommy Funderburk.The guys recorded an album, which turns out to be the very one we are talking about, unfortunately, fate was not kind and the album was never released.But it was picked up by the Westcoast label in the early to mid 90's, re-mixed from it's original form and released as the self titled King Of Hearts album.The album saw a few new tunes added, a few rockier more AOR numbers left off and saw the raw live feel mixed out of it completely.It was a very smooth, very soft, but still very good Westcoast style album. The second album saw more tracks from the sessions used and again a few new tracks added.

Well, finally the injustices have been corrected and King Of Hearts 1989 is the original album, presented in it's intended form. Guests credited on this album include CJ Vanston, Bill Champlin and Timothy Schmit. It is great to hear Kelly Keagy sing lead vocals on two tracks. The mix is also a lot more AOR than westcoast, with more guitar and an overall rawer feel easily detectable. The album is a mix of pure smooth and laid back westcoast with some more guitar driven pure rock. Either way the band provide some of the best quality songs available. Pretty much as one would expect given the caliber of the guys involved. It is one of the best Westcoast/AOR album of all times and it was recorded in 1989, a magic year for AOR. The Cd is hard to find because it was released only for the japanese market.

The Band: Kelly Keagy: Lead vocals, Drums. Tommy Funderburk: Lead, bk vocals. Bruce Gaitsch: Guitars. George Hawkins: Bass, vocals. Produced by David Cole.
1.-Working man 2.-In So Many Words 3.-Don't Call My Name 4.-Smack Dab 5.-Remember When 6.-Hold On To Love 7.-Under The Gun 8.-Lovin' Arms 9.-Was It Good For You 10.-Everyday 11.-King Of Hearts

VANADIUM – SEVENTHEAVEN (1989, Green Line Records)

One of the top 10 rarest cds into the MHR/AOR circle nowadays, in the same league as Florence 99, NVS, Kidd Wikkid, De5 and Oslo. Super-fantastic Italian MHR/AOR album comparable in style to Florence 99, KC Rose, Surrender, Oxido and Douglas, it is one of the best MHR/AOR releases of all times!
Sought after by the top collectors worldwide, this cd was released in extremely limited quantities by a very small label. Vanadium was one of the greatest 80'(but till nowdays underrated) european metal band.This band made the history of Italian '80 metal. First albums(Metal Rock, A Race with the Devil,Game Over,Born to fight)are stronger,sound "more metallic";Sevetheaven(the last album with English lyrics) is an overture to a more commercial melodic hard rock with americanized sound.Without dubts Sevetheaven is a great album, but more energetic than a classical standard AOR: still in 1989 Vanadium always rocks!
Members:
Pino Scotto – Vocals,
Steve Tessarin – Guitars,
Ruggero Zanolini – Keyboards,
Mimmo Prantera: Bass,
Lio Mascheroni – Drums.
Tracks: 1.-Italian Girl; 2.-Natural Born Loner; 3.-Take Blues Away; 4.-Seventh Heaven (Ruggero´s Theme) Bad Attitude; 5.-One Way Ride; 6.-Kill the Killer; 7.-Step Ahead of Time; 8.-To Be a Number One; 9.-Warriors.

DOUBLETAKE – SO MANY ROADS (1993, Bill Paso Records)

This ultra rare 12 track CD was released in 1993 on the band's own label. This "underground" AOR indie has fetched prices up to $500 off Ebay and for good reason!!! The few elite collectors who have heard DOUBLETAKE can attest to it's brilliance.

Everything about it from the melodies, song structures, musicianship, vocals, production and cool-looking inserts make this one of the finest AOR/melodic hard rock indies ever. They got a sound that's had me wet my trousers at least a dozen times. Imagine a more AORish FRICTION (Baby Talk) meets FIREHOUSE with a few hints of TALL STORIES. The vocals are so frickin' killer along with superb guitar work and one of the best productions. Absolutely essential!!!

Brett Axxelson: Lead vocals, guitars
Mark Russel: Guitars, back vocals
Bret Samperi: Bass Guitar, back vocals
Paul Shulz: Drums, back vocals

1. Intro 2. Living In A Black And White Movie 3. She's Got The Love 4. Julia 5. People 6. She's A Hoppin' 7. The Call 8. Mistake 9. I Can't See Tomorrow 10. Night Crimes 11. Don't Wanna Dance Alone 12. So Many Roads

THE TAKE – NEW LANGUAGE (1992)

This one's got it all: big, Skagarack-size keyboards, a soaring, clean vocalist in Patrick Julian who is similar to Max Bacon, the guy from Hybrid Ice or Steve Overland of FM and very handsome production courtesy of Kim Fowley (who produced The Runaways, Steel Breeze and others).

This Cincinnati, USA band is easily one of the best indie AOR CDs, "Let Me Find My Way" is similar to Surrender, Rescue, The Koo, Shelter, The Cauze. The production and vocals are clean and polished, the songs are right out of an AOR dream. More info at: www.geocities.com/thetake2000/index.html


Greg Buckley - Keyboards/vocals; Jeff Chambers - Bass/vocals; Patrick Julian - Lead vocals; Randy Reigelsperger - Drums; Alan Terrill - Guitars/vocals.

Tracklisting:
1.-Let me find my way 2.-Dreamin’ the night away 3.-Can’t you see 4.-Is there anybody out there? 5.-Woman on ice (thin ice) 6.-Falling asleep at the wheel 7.-Lady 8.-Mansion in the sky 9.-Ugly side of town (drop your gun) 10.-Eye of the storm 11.-Beauty’s in the heart 12.-Have you heard the news?