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.