- STRANGEWAYS :
- Terry Brock (vocals)
- Ian J. Stewart (guitar)
- Warren Jolly (bas)
- Jim Drummond (drums)
David "Munch" Moore (keyboards)
- Produced by: Ian James Stewart
- Engineered by: Ewan Davies
- Mixed by : Ian James Stewart, John Lee
- Mastered by: John Astley
|
|
STRANGEWAYS - Perfect WorldEuropean Import : FRCD483 STOCK STATUS: IN STOCK - ships in 1 day |
|
|
|
| The news of Strangeways
reunion with American singer Terry Brock leaked when the
announcement of Firefest 2010 festival line-up was launched
with the inclusion of the band in the "Native Sons"/"Walk
in the Fire" lineup on the bill. This came as a big
surprise to many, since probably very few people would have
hoped to see Brock crossing the ocean again and even less
could think of a brand new Strangeways recording with the
singer together with guitarist Ian J. Stewart, new bassist
Warren Jolly, drummer Jim Drummond and keyboard player Dave
"Munch" Moore. Still the Strangeways reunion is
now a fact and the new album "Perfect World" is
something that re-establishes a fil rouge between today
and musical events that happened more than 20 years ago.
Turning back the clock in 1986, Strangeways released their
self titled debut album for Bonaire/Arista Records. "Strangeways"
received rave reviews, particularly from the british press
which saw the potential for the band to break on to the
US market. By the time the album hit the shops, original
singer Tony Liddell had already been replaced by Brock who
was persuaded to join the band by the album's producer Kevin
Elson (Journey, Europe etc.). Strangeways toured intensely
supporting Europe, Bryan Adams and Meat Loaf but it was
the following year's "Native Sons" album that
chiselled in stone the name of the band, who produced a
full-blown melodic rock masterpiece, hailed by Kerrang!
magazine as "the greatest and most preciously perfect
AOR album of all time". In 1989, even if 'Native Sons'
didn't sell as well as the critical acclaim gathered, Strangeways
recorded a third album titled 'Walk In The Fire'. The band
wanted to have a more personal approach, less leaning to
the Journey sound of the previous record. The result was
truly superb, a big step further compared to "Native
Sons". Still today songs as "Love Lies Dying",
"Every Time You Cry" or "Where Are They Now"
are considered by the fans some of the most beautiful songs
ever in british AOR style. Strangeways were finally starting
to see rewards from touring, particularly in Germany but
after Brock flew to the US to secretly audition with Deep
Purple to replace Ian Gillan, he never returned to the UK
and left the band. Three more very different Strangeways
albums followed with Ian Stewart at the microphone: "And
The Horse" (1995), "Any Day Now" (1997) and
"Gravitational Pull" (2000). All of them saw Strangeways
exploring a more atmospheric and rootsy style which had
nothing to do with the previous three albums. Terry Brock
in the meanwhile started a solo career which produced two
acclaimed releases ("Back to Eden" and the very
recent "Diamond Blue") and collaborated with The
Sign, Seventh Key and Giant. "Perfect World" takes from where "Walk In the Fire" left off, with the band finding an even more mature musical identity, an amazing sense of spacious melodies and of course the magic voice of Terry Brock which connects the music with the classic Melodic Rock sound of "Native Sons" and "Walk in the Fire". Don't miss now their performance at Firefest 2010 hoping it will be the first of a long streak of dates. |
|
