Great Rock Albums of 1983: Pat Benatar- Live From Earth

 

For many artists, it is almost natural that after making four great studio albums that they put out a live album. That's exactly what Pat Benatar did in 1983 with "Live From Earth." All of the great classics from her previous albums are all on here and all are done with such intensity, it has left me regretting the fact that I have never seen her live. Listening to the album and viewing some of the concert footage on YouTube, I know Pat would have been amazing. If any of you at there have seen Pat Benatar in concert, I would love to read about your experiences.

"Live From Earth" was recorded in California and France during her sold out tour for the "Get Nervous" album and has the two tracks "I Want Out" and "Looking For a Stranger" and both sound fantastic live. The strange phenomena is the fact that the two best known tracks "Shadows of the Night" and "Anxiety" are absent on the record, although they both appear on the VHS version released two years later. Still, those tracks not being there doesn't spoil the rest of the record. I mean how could it with such great Benatar classics like "Heartbreaker," "Hit Me With Your Best Shot," "Fire and Ice," need I go on?

In spite of "Live From Earth" being a great hard rocking live album, some have pointed to it as the turning point for her move away from the heavy rock albums that made her the queen of rock from 1980-2. I'm talking about the single "Love is a Battlefield." To be honest, I've never hated this song but is completely different from what I had heard from her in the past. It is definitely a typical 1980s synthesizer pop song in some respects but with Pat's voice, I found it impossible to dislike.

Track Listing:

1. Fire and Ice
2. Looking For a Stranger
3. I Want Out
4. We Live For Love
5. Hell is for Children
6. Hit Me With Your Best Shot
7. Promises in the Dark
8. Heartbreaker
9. Love is a Battlefield
10. Lipstick Lies

[caption id="attachment_1396" align="aligncenter" width="195"] Pat Benatar[/caption]

Pat Benatar- lead vocals

Neil Giraldo- guitar, backing vocals

Charlie Giordano- keyboards

Roger Capps- bass, backing vocals

Myron Grombacher- drums

The question remains: Did "Live From Earth" mark the turning point for Pat Benatar from being a feisty hard rocking rock queen to a trendy top 40 performer? Possibly but after listening to this incredible live album, I don't really care. I just prefer to sit back and hear all the great Benatar rock classics played so well live and have a small regret of never having been to one of these concerts.

Next post: Loverboy- Keep It Up

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com 

Great Rock Albums of 1983: Heart- Passionworks

 

One of the great things I remember musically about 1983 was that Heart was back! For many, including myself, their 1980 album "Bebe Le Strange," as good as it was, signaled the end of Heart as we knew it. Their 1982 album "Private Audition" failed to make an impact on anyone, me included there as well, which was why it got left out of the albums of that year. In the Autumn of 1983, the first single, "How Can I Refuse," came to my attention thanks to the late night TV programme, "Video Rock." When I heard it, I loved it. True, that song hasn't the rocking power of classics like "Barracuda," "Crazy On You" and "Magic Man," but it still rocks for me. In fact, it's number four on my favourite Heart songs list behind the three giants I have mentioned.

"How Can I Refuse" isn't the only cool rocker on the "Passionworks" album, there are quite a few other good ones. "Blue Guitar," "Beat By Jelousy," "Sleep Alone" and "Heavy Heart are all great rock outs and the standouts for me on the album. "Sleep Alone" is definitely a trip back to Heart's heavy days of the 1970s and "Beat By Jealousy has some really cool guitar hooks. True, there are more synthesizers used here as was the 80s trend but that doesn't detract from the quality one iota. Ann Wilson's voice is as great as it had ever been and would continue to be years after. As for Nancy, I feel a bit sexist for not including her among my list of great rhythm guitarists. She definitely belongs there!

Apart from all the great rocking to there are also three ballads and as any Heart fan can tell you, Ann's voice can sing anything very well. "Johnny Moon" and "Language of Love" bear tribute to the fact. However, there is one ballad here that stands above everything. I even put it above the great power ballad, "Just Between You and Me" by April Wine. What's more, there isn't even a guitar solo in the song, so it must be that good for me to like it. If you haven't guessed already, I'm talking about "Allies." Play that song, and I'll stop whatever I'm doing and I mean whatever and just rock out to it. It is the ballad of ballads in my view. The ballads with the rock, plus the song "Together Now" bridging them together, make "Passionworks" a brilliant album.

Track Listing:

1. How Can I Refuse
2. Blue Guitar
3. Johnny Moon
4. Sleep Alone
5. Together Now
6. Allies
7. (Beat by) Jealousy
8. Heavy Heart
9. Love Mistake
10. Language of Love
11. Ambush

[caption id="attachment_3287" align="aligncenter" width="379"] Heart[/caption]

Ann Wilson- vocals

Nancy Wilson- guitar, vocals (lead vocal on track 9)

Howard Leese- lead guitar, keyboards, backing vocals

Mark Andes- bass, backing vocals

Danny Carmassi- drums

"Passionworks" paved the way for Heart to comeback in 1983. This album put their hard rock sound into a more marketable 1980s style without old fans like me saying they sold out. Often unremembered, this album is far better than what it has been given credit for.

Next post: Pat Benetar- Live From Earth

To buy Rock And Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com 

Great Rock Albums of 1983: Stevie Nicks- The Wild Heart

 

When I first heard the first single, "Stand Back," to Stevie Nicks's 1983 album, "The Wild Heart," I have to admit that I was rather blown away. There was an energy behind this song that I can't explain, especially as it's not done with hard guitar power chords. Her voice matches this song very well and please, no comments about Stevie sounding like a sheep. Needless to say, "Stand Back" is my all time favourite Stevie Nicks song but I often wonder how it would sound if it guitars dominated the supporting music as opposed to keyboards and of course a cranking guitar solo.

Keyboards is the theme of "The Wild Heart" album since it was the oncoming trend of the decade. However, having the quality musicians who play on the album, the keyboards are  done intelligently. Then again, all of the songs have the same quality musicianship in each of them. The title track opens things very well and sets the tone for the rest of the album. This is quickly followed by the second single from the album, "If Anyone Falls." Not a bad song, very over done with the keyboards but it doesn't hold a candle to "Stand Back." "Gate and Garden" is more of a ballad but there is a guitar solo on it and that saves the song. An interesting note is the track, "Enchanted." This song is reminiscent of the song "Dreams" from the classic Fleetwood Mac "Rumours" album.

After my favourite song, Stevie once again teams up with Tom Petty like she did on her previous album, "Belladonna." Written by Petty, "I Will Run to You" opens with a promising guitar riff but for me, it doesn't quite have the magic they produced on "Stop Dragging My Heart Around" but it does have a few catchy hooks, so it's not a bad song. The rockiest song here is "Nothing Ever Changes." The only song where I can hear guitar over the keyboards. Then again, Don Felder does play guitar on the track and is allowed to play a small solo but it is the saxophone that stands out the most for this track. "Nothing Ever Changes" is the climax to the album because the final two songs don't really do anything for me.

Track Listing:

1. The Wild Heart
2. If Anyone Falls
3. Gate and Garden
4. Enchanted
5. Nightbird
6. Stand Back
7. I Will Run to You
8. Nothing Ever Changes
9. Sable on Blonde
10. Beauty and the Beast

[caption id="attachment_2252" align="aligncenter" width="203"] Stevie Nicks[/caption]

Stevie Nicks- vocals

Lori Nicks- backing vocals

Sharon Celani- backing vocals

Guest Musicians

Tom Petty- guitar, vocals on track 7

Sandy Stewart- piano, keyboards, backing vocals on tracks 1,3,5,6,8,9

Mike Campbell- guitar on track 7

Benmont Trench- keyboards, organ on tracks 3-5, 7

Howie Epstein- bass on track 7

Stan Lynch- drums on track 7

Mick Fleetwood- drums on track 9

Steve Lukather- drums on track 6

Don Felder- guitar on track 8

Prince- keyboards on track 6

There were many session musicians on the album as well but the list would be extremely long.

In 1983, Stevie Nicks was probably the most successful of the members of Fleetwood Mac on solo projects, probably the most successful of all time. What was best about her voice was that it could stretch to sing a range of music. While she shows this with "The Wild Heart" album, I often wonder what she would sound like with a metal band.

Next post: Heart- Passionworks

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com 

Great Rock Albums of 1983: Planet P Project

 

Who says American bands aren't capable of making good progressive rock? Jeremy Clarkson to name one but don't worry, he does write a column in The Sun, as does some other berk whose name I can't remember, who insinuated a similar claim. If either of these two gentlemen were to make such a claim in my presence, I would politely guide them to the likes of Kansas, Styx and Planet P. True, the first two bands incorporated lots of hard rock and in the case of Styx, almost bordering on heavy metal but both bands also produced some great progressive rock tunes in their material. As for Planet P, this band was as progressive as anyone and this is proven with their debut album "Project."

Planet P was the brain child of former Rainbow keyboard player, Tony Carey. I was first alerted to their existence when I heard several tracks from the album played on a rate an album radio programme. It wasn't the hard rock/metal that I was now a devoted disciple of but I liked it.

The album opens with a bit of space rock, in the form of "Static." It sounds enough like Pink Floyd that some people made comparisons to that band. It is a little trippy but it does haul your ears in for the rest of the album. Track two, "King For a Day" could have been released as a single. It is one of those songs capable of uniting both progressive purists and metalheads with its catchy melody and lyrics. The next few tracks are good progressive rock tracks and "I Won't Wake Up" is very good. Then comes the song they did release as a single, "Why Me." That is a very good song and the fact that it got to number four on the mainstream hot tracks bears testimony of this. However, the album doesn't rest on the single. The very next track, "Power Tools" is my favourite track on this album. It is the closest they come to hard rock but it's a catchy upbeat song.

"Send It In a Letter" is more experimental progressive rock. Great use of synthesizers are made here. It's another space rock sounding song. "Adam and Eve" combines the best of progressive, space and hard rock and does it very well. It doesn't settle down in one of those said genres for very long before one of the others hits you like a ton of bricks.

Before Planet P, I always knew Tony Carey to be a good keyboards player from his Rainbow days but had little experience of him as a singer. His vocals are more than sufficient on "Project." He even harmonizes well on the song he doesn't sing lead. Furthermore, he managed to put together a great band to back him up. Well done to Tony and Planet P!

Track Listing:

1. Static
2. King For a Day
3. I Won't Wake Up
4. Top of the World
5. Armageddon
6. Tranquility Base (Only available on CD and cassette)
7. Why Me
8. Power Tools
9. Send It In a Letter
10. Only You and Me
11. Ruby (Only available on CD and cassette)

[caption id="attachment_3279" align="aligncenter" width="258"] Planet P[/caption]

Tony Carey- lead and backing vocals, keyboards, bass, acoustic guitar

David Thomas- lead vocals on "Only You and Me"

Johan Daansen- guitar

Robert Musenpichler- guitar

Helmut Bibl- guitar

Hartmut Pfannmeuller- drums, percussion

Fritz Matzka- drums, percussion

Peter Hauke- drums, percussion

Planet P not only proved that Americans (and Germans) could make some great progressive rock, the "Project" album gained them a lot of respect from metalheads and prog purists alike.

Next post: Stevie Nicks- The Wild Heart

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