Lost/Forgotten Album #378

[Jon]

Time for the 19th album in the series that has nothing to do with last week's selection but actually could. It's called "liberties", folks.

Hey, this font looks weird. It's not the normal font. It's not the font I'm looking for. I didn't change the font though. It's crazy. It's not my father.

Font aside, this is the debut from Romeo's Daughter, released in 1988. According to allmusic, it only runs 17:57 so it's quite a short listen, but it gives you that full album feel when it's over.

A lot of interesting factoids about this album, so I'll hand it over to the allmusic.com review and they'll fill you in:

The lineup for the eponymously titled debut album by Romeo's Daughter was Leigh Matty (vocals), Craig Joiner (guitar and vocals), Tony Mitman (keyboards), Ed Poole (bass), and Andy Wells (drums). The album was partly produced by John "Mutt" Lange, the former husband of band manager Olga Lange, who was perhaps more famous for being married to Shania Twain although his production credits also included many other rock bands from Def Leppard to AC/DC. The remainder of the album was produced by John Parr of "St. Elmo's Fire" fame. The first single released from the album was "I Cry Myself to Sleep" which never charted in the U.K. Perhaps the most famous song on the album was "Heaven in the Back Seat" which was used on the soundtrack to Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child. The only single to break into the U.S. chart was "Don't Break My Heart" which could only reach a high of 73. Although receiving critical acclaim the album never achieved any success in the U.K. chart, and it also only reached number 191 in the U.S. Despite the lack of chart success, Romeo's Daughter has obviously not gone totally unnoticed. Several songs from the album have been covered by other bands including "Wild Child," that was recorded by Heart on their album Brigade, "Heaven in the Back Seat," which was re-recorded by Eddie Money on his album Right Here, Bonnie Tyler, who included "I Cry Myself to Sleep at Night" on the album Angel Heart, and even Steps, who included "Stay with Me Tonight" retitled as "Stay with Me" on the album Step One.

Romeo's Daughter

1. Heaven In The Back Seat
2. Don't Break My Heart
3. I Cry Myself to Sleep at Night
4. Wild Child
5. Hymn (Look Through Golden Eyes)
6. Velvet Tongue
7. Stay With Me Tonight
8. Inside Out
9. I Like What I See
10. Color You A Smile

Availability: Around $13 new or used, it also includes three bonus tracks (as usual, not included here).

[Scott]

Well we're still in the Rock Candy series.  Just under 18 minutes huh? 

Well the first 4 tracks are certainly steeped in 1988 songwriting and production values.  Can Mutt lift it above the other albums of the time?  First track that really made me listen was Hymn - not sure why, but it was a very nicely done song, the previous 4 sounded average and I have to wonder why Mutt didn't stay involved in the whole project?  Maybe Shania distracted him around this time?  Who knows, but this really doesn't feel like this has his imprint on it, IMO.  Your Red track makes it two in a row, but it was "I Like What I See" that really made me listen, even more so than Hymn - where has this been?  Very poppy but has that catchy feel to it.  I may have ran into the Cherry pick here...  The closer is quite good to.  This is about 50/50 listening experience and I see Rock Candy has another release of this bands with 4 members on the cover.  Hmmm...  

Indeed "I Like What I See" is this weeks Cherry pick followed by "Hymn" and "Color You A Smile" ...  Much better ending than start, had this lasted only 17 minutes I would've missed the good stuff!  Not a purchase but a nice listen...

[Yngve J. Chapleen]

I have this CD and not the Candy reissue, but the original release. However, the saw mark on the paper tells me I probably got it from a second hand store. The main reason I bought it was Mutt Lange, who did a good job producing 3/4 of the tracks, but not AC/DC or Def Leppard, good, which is understandable, given the band being new the label most likely didn't want to spend a fortune on them.

 I also have their second album, which I bought when it came out, but that CD is still on my Later pile. From this CD I have 3 songs on my shuffle. Track #1, #2 and #4. I like this album quite a bit.

[RJhog (Admin)]

Is that Mutt on backing vocals on that first track.  Sounds just like a cheesy Def Leppard song, so it must be.  Track two is just plain awful.  Next one is a little bit better.  I think Space Elevator should cover this track.

Hymn is a real snoozer too!  

Please let these 17 minutes end soon.

Def Leppard's back on Inside Out.

Thankfully, I'm on the last track.  This is steeped in everything that screams late 80's.  Sometimes that's a good thing, but not so much here.  Can't say I cared for this one at all.