Richard Marx - Songwriter (Album Review)

September 30, 2022 by David Vousden in 80s, Album Reviews, Classic Rock, Country, Pop, Singer-Songwriter

From his self-titled, triple platinum-selling debut album in 1987 to ‘Limitless’ in 2020, Richard Marx has had an unerring knack for a melody (not to mention a pretty wonderful voice). Marx's songwriting skills have enabled him to stay relevant throughout his nearly forty-year career. His sound has evolved over time, with the punchy guitars of the late 80s replaced by a smoother, more R&B/pop sound tailored to radio and streaming services. Along the way, his song craft has been in high demand, co-writing and/or contributing songs to a startling array of artists from Kenny Rogers to Keith Urban via NSYNC, Luther Vandross and Vixen. An impressive CV, but where does that chameleon-like ability to pen hit songs come from? How does he do it? Hopefully, ‘Songwriter’ might give us a bit of a clue as we take a journey through twenty tracks encompassing four genres; pop, rock, country and ballads.

Silent Running - Follow The Light (Album Review)

July 21, 2022 by David Vousden in 80s, Album Reviews, Classic Rock, Pop

Silent Running is a name that might be familiar to readers with a long memory. The Northern Irish rockers released their debut record ‘Shades Of Liberty’ on EMI in 1984 before moving to Atlantic for two further albums. The guys maintained a busy touring schedule that included shows with Talk Talk, Simple Minds, John Foxx and Robert Palmer and even appeared on The Tube (an iconic TV show that was incredibly influential at the time). Unfortunately, major success eluded them and the band called it a day in 1989. It looked like the Silent Running story was over, but after a thirty-year hiatus, the guys thought it might be fun to play a few songs at a band member’s wife’s birthday party. The birthday party would lead to a sold-out show at Belfast’s Voodoo, and now Silent Running are back with a fourth album, ‘Follow The Light’ to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the band.

Sam Outlaw - Popular Mechanics (Album Review)

March 02, 2022 by David Vousden in 80s, Album Reviews, Americana, Country, Singer-Songwriter

The press release that accompanied ‘Popular Mechanics’ referenced Kenny Loggins, Tom Petty and Cyndi Lauper, all acts that have a home in my collection, so I was intrigued to hear what exactly Sam Outlaw had in mind on his new album. Listeners familiar with Outlaw and his impressive back catalogue might find the mention of Cyndi a tad incongruous as his previous records had received positive reviews for their take on the southern California country sound. As it turned out, I was pleased to find Outlaw might have taken a left turn, but he was far from lost.

World Goes Round - S.T. (Album Review)

January 21, 2021 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, 80s, Pop

If you have a healthy obsession with all things music, then I’m pretty sure you will have been drawn into conversations on the subject of the unreleased album (music fans love to obsess about what might have been). Musical history is awash with lost sessions, lost tapes and probably the odd lost mind, as fans debate the existence of some unheard masterpiece. Some “lost” albums do eventually appear as artists and labels raid the vaults (Neil Young) while others are probably figments of a fertile imagination relating to recording sessions that might have produced an album if completed successfully (who wouldn’t want to hear Jeff Beck’s Motown sessions from 1970?). Others have crept out via other means (KISS/Wicked Lester). Whatever the reason, music fans love to talk about music almost as much as they like to listen to it, which brings us to a late 80s band going by the name of World Goes Round.

Squares - Squares (Album Review)

July 09, 2019 by David Vousden in 80s, Album Reviews, New Wave, Power Pop

When Joe Satriani announced he’d be releasing a set of demos from the early 80s the natural assumption was that we’d be getting embryonic versions of tracks from albums such as ‘Not of this Earth’ or ‘Surfing with the Alien’. Truth be told - and as cool as that might have been - ‘Squares’ is actually more interesting. Many artists shun their earliest musical endeavours, happy to lock them away in a vault somewhere and seemingly have no recollection of their earliest attempts at rock stardom. Joe obviously has a soft spot for those early days, which is hardly surprising as some of the people involved in Squares still play a big part in the Joe Satriani story in 2019

Glen Hansard - This Wild Willing (Album Review)

April 10, 2019 by Rich Barnard in 80s, Album Reviews, Americana, Folk, Singer-Songwriter

After three lauded solo records and countless packed-out shows across the globe, Glen Hansard has amassed laurels aplenty upon which to rest if he were that way inclined. Thankfully, it would appear he is not, as This Wild Willing represents a decisive step forward in the post-Once career of the onetime Frames frontman as he eases off on the Van Morrisonisms he’s become synonymous with and begins re-engaging with the boundary-pushing of his earlier work.

Fiat Lux - Saved Symmetry (Album Review)

March 01, 2019 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Pop, 80s

If they’d had a crystal ball would Steve Wright and David P. Crickmore - who formed Fiat Lux in the early 80s - have still embarked on a musical journey that would see the duo finally release their debut full-length album in 2019? I get the feeling they would as ‘Saved Symmetry’ has the feel and sound of an album that encompasses everything the duo were trying to achieve back in the day. The Latin phrase Fiat Lux translates as Let There Be Light, with light as a metaphor for wisdom. This seems fitting as ‘Saved Symmetry’ finally sees the light of day and I’m pretty sure Steve and David have learnt a few things along the way.

T'Pau - Bridge Of Spies Remastered Expanded Edition (Album Review)

November 18, 2015 by David Vousden in Pop, 80s, Album Reviews

From the outside looking in the T'Pau story seems to bear all the hallmarks of an overnight success story. The band formed in Shropshire in the UK in 1986 and by mid 1987 they were signed to a major label and recording their debut album with legendary producer Roy Thomas Baker (Queen, The Cars, Journey). Despite the power of a major label and an A-list producer twiddling the knobs initially things were a little slow as ‘Heart and Soul’ failed to chart in the UK. The fortunes of the band would change when the single was featured in an ad for Pepe jeans resulting in a huge hit in the USA. A UK re-release would provide the band with their first hit before ‘China in Your Hand’ would spend five weeks at the top of the UK charts. Oddly the success of ‘China’ was not repeated to the same level in America despite it seemingly having all the prerequisite power ballad credentials to be massive.