Almost any melodic rock fan will tell you that the first two Harem Scarem albums are classics. The band’s 1992 debut and ‘Mood Swings’ – their harder sounding follow up from 1993 – set out the Canadian outfit’s stall as a band to be reckoned with. Twenty years on from ‘Mood Swings’, someone in the Harem Scarem camp decided the best move to celebrate the milestone anniversary would be to re-record the songs…
Tag Archives: frontiers records
FIND ME – Wings Of Love
Bringing together the talents of Robbie LeBlanc (Blanc Faces), Daniel Palmquist (Xorigin) and noted session drummer/engineer Daniel Flores, Find Me is a project with strong foundations. With a selection of songs written by Frontiers Records in-house regulars Allesandro Del Vecchio and Tom Wilson and contributions from Issa and Erik Mårtensson, the whole package is designed to be the AOR fans dream. Usually when such big ambitions are chased such projects falter, but almost everything about Find Me works excellently.
LITTLE RIVER BAND – Cuts Like A Diamond
Australia’s Little River Band shouldn’t really need an introduction. Over the years, there have been shifting line ups and shifting sounds (1984’s ‘Playing To Win’ with John Farnham at the helm is somewhat of an AOR classic), but the much-lauded band have released music of a quality that has (probably) rightly seen them compared to the likes of The Doobie Brothers and Player. 2013’s ‘Cuts Like a Damond’ is an album with a fair amount riding on it… Not only does the band possess some gems within a quite extensive catalogue dating back to the mid-70s, but [excluding any re-recordings and albums with yuletide themes] it also breaks a recording hiatus of nine years.
ARC ANGEL – Harlequins Of Light
With no record companies ever breathing down his neck for a follow up to a hit album, singer-songwriter Jeff Cannata has always been left to his own devices to make records in his own time. While this has meant that he hasn’t always been particularly prolific – with just a couple of albums per decade to his credit since the early 80s – you could never say his work was shoddy. Whenever an album with Cannata at the helm appears, you can be assured it’ll be filled with shiny, multi-layered goodness…and 2013’s ‘Harlequins of Light’, released under the Arc Angel moniker, is no exception.
WHITESNAKE – Made In Britain/The World Record
During Whitesnake’s 2013 co-headlining tour with Journey, the band were sloppy. Guitarists Reb Beach and Doug Aldrich bought a fair amount of weight to the live sound, but their constant gurning was a little embarrassing. Not as embarrassing as the vocal performance from David Coverdale, however, who – at least during their London show – failed to hit any big notes anywhere near in tune. During most of the ‘Forevermore’ songs he sounded like Cookie Monster, while on the squealier material (such as ‘Still of the Night’) hearing his cracked voice constantly struggling was just painful beyond belief. Thankfully, drummer Tommy Aldridge was an absolute powerhouse performer throughout; but despite previous claims made by Phil Collins that a bad band with a good drummer would still sound good, watching this once great band falter and fumble, you’d surely have to disagree.