Great Rock Albums of 1985: Joe Lynn Turner- Rescue You

 

Not long ago, I heard an English friend of mine refer to Joe Lynn Turner as ‘that American pretty boy who replaced Graham Bonnet in Rainbow.’ True, Joe Lynn Turner is American and back in 1985, many ladies found him very fanciable, my sister was ga ga over him. However, the man also possesses a very good singing voice and it was only natural that after Ritchie Blackmore dissolved Rainbow to rejoin Deep Purple that Joe would put out a solo album. The result was his debut album, “Rescue You.”

Joe Lynn Turner was a victim of the 1985 belief that synthesizers were the way forward for music back then. Many of the songs on the album seem to be over dominated by it and on some of those things, I have always thought that they should have been turned down and the guitar turned up. Then the album would have been a real rocker. Don’t get me wrong, “Rescue You” is in no way an 80s synth pop album, there are some good rocking moments and on some tracks like the title track and the opener, “Losing You” you can definitely hear a bit of the old Rainbow on it. While the guitar on the title track is present, it is often obscured by the keyboard and for that song, I can’t help thinking how much I would be head banging away to it if the keyboards weren’t so dominant.

Being a typical wishy-washy Gemini, (I don’t really believe that zodiac stuff), I think there are some tracks where the keyboards do work. The prime example here is the big single from the album, “Endlessly,” which was good enough to get to 19 in the singles charts while at the same time having metalheads shaking their heads and accusing Joe of going too commercial. The keyboard intro also works on “Feel the Fire” but as the song progresses, I again think they should have taken a back seat because this is another song that could have been great if the guitars had been turned up more.

In spite of all my ramblings of too much keyboard, there are some tracks where Joe hasn’t lost touch with his hard rock roots. While the keyboards still exist on “Get Tough,” the song does rock and he also demonstrates that he has the pipes for such songs. This is another song that takes me back to his Rainbow days. In fact, the second half of the album is definitely more rock than the first. “Eyes of Love” is a fine example of this, it has a great guitar solo, but if you want concrete proof, the best track is the closer, “The Race is On.” This is the hidden gem because it just rocks with little interference from keyboards. With all my contradictions about guitars and keyboards on “Rescue You,” the one constant throughout the entire album is Joe Lynn Turner’s voice. Pretty boy or not, he has always had a great singing voice and deserves credit for it.

Track Listing:

1. Losing You
2. You Hearts
3. Prelude
4. Endlessly
5. Rescue You
6. Feel the Fire
7. Get Tough
8. Eyes of Love
9. On the Run
10. Soul Searcher
11. The Race Is On

Joe Lynn Turner- vocals

Alan Greenwood- keyboards

Chuck Burgi- drums

Bobby Messano- guitar, bass, backing vocals

The problem in 1985 was that the music industry was convinced that music had to have synthesizers to be any good. This belief had an effect on “Rescue You” for Joe Lynn Turner. Despite his great singing voice and the good quality of the tracks on the album, I can’t help thinking how much better some of the tracks would have been if there was less keyboard and more guitar.

Next post: Phantom, Rocker and Slick

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Great Rock Albums of 1984: Tony Carey- Some Tough City

 

Tony Carey was another great artist considered a one hit wonder by the MTV generation of the mid 1980s. In the spring and early summer of 1984, his biggest single, "A Fine Fine Day," tore up the charts and eventually made it to number six or seven. It got tons of airplay on both radio and MTV. However, what these robots failed to understand that Tony had been rocking our world for many years before this. They didn't know about his stint with the great Rainbow or even known that the year before, he had success with his band Planet P. Fortunately, I did and that information led me to procure his 1984 album, "Some Tough City."

If I had been among the ignorant, the second single released from the album might have put me off buying the album. "The First Day of Summer" wasn't bad, although there are much better tracks on "Some Tough City," it's just in the video for the song, he tries too hard to act like Joe Cool Rock Singer and that was a bit off putting. Now don't get me wrong, Tony Carey has a good voice but he's an even better musician as demonstrated on the album where he plays all the instruments. I know I have beaten the word 'underrated' to death on 80sMetalman but the term definitely applies to Tony.

"A Fine Fine Day" is not typical of the album. It's a great song and it won my 1984 award for best non metal song of the year but it's more progressive rock and Tony definitely demonstrates his keyboard skills on it. Most of the rest of the album has more of a hard rock edge to it, even "The First Day of Summer." However, some of the more rockier songs like, "Eddie Goes Underground" and "A Lonely Life" really cook on here. A real paradox on the album is "Reach Out," where it starts out like it's going to be some 80s synth pop song and then really explodes into a rocker. The big surprise on it is the fact that Tony hammers out a decent guitar solo on it. He does the same, actually his guitar work is even better on the more progressive rock sounding "Tinseltown." Let's face it, Tony Carey is a brilliant all round musician and his talent has been ignored for far too long.

Track Listing:

1.  
2. A Fine Fine Day
3. A Lonely Life
4. Eddie Goes Underground
5. The First Day of Summer
6. Reach Out
7. Tinseltown
8. Hungry
9. I Can't Stop the World
10. Some Tough City
11. She Can Bring Me Love


Tony Carey- vocals, keyboards, guitars, bass 

Now my mind is going off to strange worlds from posting about "Some Tough City" by Tony Carey. I wonder if he and Ronnie James Dio ever hooked up again after Rainbow. That would have been mind blowing. It wouldn't have been possible in 1984 because Tony was riding a huge wave of success as a result of the album and its top ten single. As for Ronnie, that will be all explained in a future post.

Jefferson Starship- Nuclear Furniture

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

Great Metal Albums of 1983: Rainbow- Bent Out of Shape

 

"Bent Out of Shape" would be the last album for Rainbow as we knew them. The band would break up after the tour for the album and members would go in different directions but that's a story for further down the line of metal history. I have heard this album called lackluster and the final nail in Rainbow's coffin but was it that bad? I'll be the first to admit that "Bent Out of Shape" doesn't come up to the level of the previous Rainbow album, "Straight Between the Eyes" but I don't think it's a bad album one bit.

With "Bent Out of Shape," Rainbow go towards a more keyboard dominated sound meaning it's less hard rock than what Rainbow fans were used to. Back in the 1980s, I could see how metalheads would have found that disappointing as many were distrustful of any band who incorporated keyboards in their sound. However, David Rosenthal had been with the band for several albums and had proven himself to be a more than capable keyboardist. Proof is his efforts on the intro to "Can't Let You Go," strictly superb and he does smoke on "Fire Dance." The added bonus with that song is that Ritchie Blackmore still lets you know that he can still bend the six string to do his bidding. Rainbow has always been good at the keyboard-guitar solo trade off and "Fire Dance" shows that their ability to do so hadn't gone away. If you want further proof, listen to the two instrumentals on the album. On "Anybody There" the keyboards play a support role for Ritchie to work his guitar magic and "Snowman" is a great piece of instrumental progressive rock!

It might have been that many metalheads were put off by the single, "Street of Dreams," which got a considerable amount of airplay on MTV before it was supposedly banned for its hypnotic clip. It would later be accused of showing bondage but that again, is for a later post. It is a commercial track without argument but it's not bad. In fact, it's played well. "Desperate Heart" is more of a rocker, the second hardest on the album, with "Drinking With the Devil" being the hardest.  So not everything that Rainbow had stood for for nearly a decade went out the window on the album. Besides, the closer, "Make You Move" takes things out on a hard note very well. Overall, I won't debate that "Bent Out of Shape" is more of a commercial AOR album but I didn't hate it then and I appreciate more now.

Track Listing:

1. Stranded
2. Can't Let You Go
3. Fool For the Night
4. Fire Dance
5. Anybody There
6. Desperate Heart
7. Street of Dreams
8. Drinking With the Devil
9. Snowman
10. Make Your Move

[caption id="attachment_2923" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Rainbow[/caption]

Ritchie Blackmore- guitar

Roger Glover- bass

Joe Lynn Turner- vocals

David Rosenthal- keyboards

Chuck Burgi- drums

In spite of whether "Ben Out of Shape" is a good album, Rainbow would disappear after the album. Roger Glover and Ritchie Blackmore would go and rejoin some band they were with back in the early 1970s, you might have heard of them. Not long after, lead singer, Joe Lynn Turner would reappear with his first solo album. One thing that "Bent Out of Shape" proves was that it didn't end the careers of the talented members who made up Rainbow.

Next Post: Black Sabbath- Born Again

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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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Great Metal Albums of 1982: Rainbow- Straight Between the Eyes

 

Here's the paradox that is me. I have said many times that my favourite era of Rainbow was when Ronnie James Dio was at the mike and I will forever feel that way. However, my favourite Rainbow song of all times comes during the Joe Lynn Turner era and yep you guessed it, is from the 1982 album "Straight Between the Eyes." That song is "Death Alley Driver." When I heard it on the video screen at a rock bar on Okinawa, Japan, I thought, "This song kicks ass, totally." It's just a pure rocker and Blackmore plays possibly his best guitar solo of all time on it, pure magic.

Recently, I have been debating to myself whether or not to call "Straight Between the Eyes" a metal album. There are some songs on the album that would certainly qualify it as such like "Rock Fever" and "Power," besides the big song I've already mentioned. However, there are other songs that are more progressive like the ballad like "Tearin' Out My Heart" and keyboard oriented songs like "Stone Cold," "Miss Mistreated," which has a really cool keyboard intro. To add further confusion into the mix, Ritchie goes to town on the guitar on the songs here. Then there's "Bring on the Night" that is definitely hard rock and includes more cool soloing. So, what I should be asking myself here is why the f*ck I'm worrying about what category I should or shouldn't put this fine album in and simply appreciate it for the great album that it is. So I will.

While Ritchie Blackmore shines on the album, the rest of the band steps up just as much. Joe Lynn Turner's vocals make those more progressive songs sound that much better but he can also belt our a rocker like "Death Alley Driver." David Rosenthal proves a more than capable replacement for Don Airey on the keys. The intro on "Miss Mistreated" alone is proof of that. Roger Glover is the brilliant bass player that he's always been and provides a strong rhythm section with Bobby Rondinelli. All of these elements combine well to make the album all that much better.

Track Listing:

1. Death Alley Driver
2. Stone Cold
3. Bring on the Night (Dream Catcher)
4. Tite Squeeze
5. Tearin' Out My Heart
6. Power
7. Miss Mistreated
8. Rock Fever
9. Eyes of Fire

[caption id="attachment_2923" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Rainbow[/caption]

Ritchie Blackmore- guitar

Roger Glover- bass

Joe Lynn Turner- vocals

David Rosenthal- keyboards

Bobby Rondinelli- drums

 Hence lies the danger of putting music into categories. One worries too much if a band is metal, hard rock, prog rock etc and don't enjoy the music. "Straight Between the Eyes" from Rainbow is just simply good music.

Next post: Hanoi Rocks- Oriental Beat

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Great Metal Albums of 1981: Rainbow- Difficult to Cure

Before I go into the meat of the post here, I think it's best that I do a "then and now" brief. Nowadays, many young metalheads like my younger son don't classify Rainbow as heavy metal and may even point to this very album as proof. There is plenty of evidence within the material on "Difficult To Cure" to back up that argument. However, before anyone gets the branding iron out, I think it's only fair to mention the state of rock music back in the early 1980s. First of all, most anything that had a heavy guitar in the sound was considered heavy metal by radio stations and music magazines. That's why Rush's "Moving Pictures" album was considered heavy metal back then. More important is the fact that heavy metal was still in its youth. While great metal artists like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Ozzy Osbourne and so many others were stamping their mark on heavy metal, there was no definite definition of what heavy metal was and certainly no sub genres in the music. While Rainbow makes very good use of keyboards in their music, very evident on this album, they were certainly considered a heavy metal band back then, especially with a guitarist like Ritchie Blackmore and original vocalist Ronnie James Dio in the line up. With all that said, I'll rest my case on the fact that I listed them as one of the great metal influences. If you want to trawl the archives, Rainbow was part eight in the series. God, with speeches like that, maybe I should go into politics.

Now to the album, I didn't know until now that they had recorded an early version of their most successful hit, "I Surrender," with Graham Bonnet before he left the band because he didn't like the direction it was taking. Joe Lynn Turner was brought in to sing over the already recorded musical tracks and the result is obvious, "Difficult to Cure" is a very good album. As I have said several times before, I get a little nervous when the opening track to an album is the big single. However, the opening chords on "I Surrender" is attention grabbing and starts things off perfectly. But unlike one hit wonders who use their hit to open their album, the rest of "Difficult to Cure" can stand on its own. "Spotlight Kid" is definitely a good rocking song as is "Can't Happen Here." I knew there was something familiar about those two songs when I heard them and so I checked the "Anthology" album and found those two songs were on it. I shouldn't have been surprised. "Magic"starts very progressively but Don Airey plays his keyboards masterfully on the song and Blackmore does his usual magic with the guitar, which superbly makes the song. "Freedom Fighter" is also a noteworthy rock song and the album finishes beautifully with the instrumental title track which was also Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. I've heard the live version of the song and it's totally mind blowing but I won't take anything away from the version on this album. "Difficult to Cure" is a fine outing from Rainbow

Track Listing:

1. I Surrender

2. Spotlight Kid

3. No Release

4. Magic

5. Vielleicht Das Nachste Mal (Maybe Next Time)

 6. Can't Happen Here

7. Freedom Fighter

8. Mid Tunnel Vision

9. Difficult to Cure

Ritchie Blackmore- guitars

Roger Glover- bass

Joe Lynn Turner- vocals

Don Airey- keyboards

Bobby Rondinelli- drums

With "Difficult to Cure," Rainbow proved that keyboards can work in heavy metal. They had an influence all their own on heavy metal in its early days and continue to influence many progressive metal bands today.

Next post: Def Leppard- High and Dry

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R.I.P. Jimmy Bain

Jimmy Bain

What is going on with 2016? January isn't over and another great rocker is taken from us. This time it is Rainbow/Dio bassist Jimmy Bain. Details of his death haven't been released but he was 68. Jimmy played with Rainbow from 1975-77 but he was best known for his time with Dio, especially on their first five albums. Less known is that he co-wrote with Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy on some of his solo albums.

Dio

Okay, some may say that Jimmy Bain wasn't the legend that some of the others who have recently passed but for me, he was a part of the band that made my 1980s. Therefore, I too will be listening to some Dio and early Rainbow over the next few days and it's probably a given which album I'll be posting about next.

R.I.P. Jimmy Bain

Great Rock Albums of 1978: Rainbow- Long Live Rock And Roll

First of all, I have been kicking myself for leaving out Rainbow albums in the past chapter of "Great Rock Albums of the 70s." I should have at least included the "Rising" album in one of the posts. Not taking anything away from Graham Bonnet or Joe Lynn Turner, I will be visiting their contributions to Rainbow, but I remain convinced that the Ronnie James Dio era was Rainbow's best, this album is one of the contributors to my belief.
At Bloodstock 2010, there were many tributes to Ronnie James Dio by many acts over the three days. While it could be said that some of the bands should have checked with eachother, it seems fitting that many of them played the title track, "Long Live Rock and Roll" as a tribute to Ronnie. I might be biased here, but it was Twisted Sister's version of the song I liked the best.
Needless to say, the title track isn't the only song that does this album justice. Other tracks like "Gates of Babylon,"Kill the King" and the mellow but eeriely appealing "Rainbow Eyes" also combine to make this album what it is, a great album. "Long Live Rock and Roll" is a great hard rocking album and one where metal bands can point to for inspiration.

Track Listing:

1. Long Live Rock and Roll

2. Lady of the Lake

3. L.A. Connection

4. Gates of Babylon

5. Kill the King

6. The Shed (Subtle)

7. Sensitive to Light

8. Rainbow Eyes

Rainbow

Ritchie Blackmore- guitars

Ronnie James Dio- vocals

  Cozy Powell- drums, percussion

David Stone- keyboards

Bob Daisley- bass

"Long Live Rock And Roll" would be the last album to feature Ronnie James Dio, who would go on to take over the singing duties for Black Sabbath. Rainbow would continue on and both would achieve greatness. I believe that Ronnie James Dio and Cozy Powell, who passed away a few years earlier, are jamming together in the after life and continuing to rock on.

Next post: The Who- Who Are You

To buy Rock and Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale in Foyles Book Shop in London.