Lost/Forgotten Album #374

Before we get to the 16th album in the series, let's discuss trains.

I no longer like 'em. They hassled me on the way to work and on the way home from work yesterday. It's not like they were moving because they weren't. One of 'em was close enough to the road to cause the gate to come down and it decided to just sit there. The other one decided to stop on the road causing a horrible traffic jam and it still hadn't moved 20 minutes later when I turned around and then turned around again just like I had just left work again. It's probably still sitting there, blocking the road.

So, I don't like trains.

This week's album is the self-titled debut from Strangeways, released in 1986. Not much, if any, chart action here.

No allmusic.com review, but here's a bit of their bio:

This Scottish heavy AOR quartet was put together in 1985 by brothers Ian (guitar) and David Stewart (bass) after demise of China White. With Jim Drummond (drums) and Tony Liddell (vocals), they debuted with a self-titled album in 1985. This offered a blend of Americanized, melodic AOR comparable with the work of Boston, Journey or Kansas. Produced by Kevin Elson (of Journey fame), it surpassed many expectations, but was ignored by the British public.

That's it. I'm still upset about trains so I'll just add that this is pretty good.

Strangeways

1. The Kid Needs Love
2. Hold Back Your Love
3. Close to the Edge
4. Heartbreak Zone
5. Cry Out
6. Power Play
7. Breakin' Down the Barriers
8. Now It's Gone
9. More Than Promises
10. Hold Tight

Availability: Around $13 new or used.

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Permalink Reply by Yngve J. Chapleen on November 2, 2017 at 9:10pm

Another band I have an album(s) in my later pile. However, I'm sure it's not this one.

I should probably give them a spin, because I hope they are as good as this one. Nice AOR.

Apropos, I wonder if the AOR guy heard about this band and album?

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Permalink Reply by RJhog (Admin) on November 26, 2017 at 1:42pm

You know what this is? I'll tell you what it is. It is what it is.

Very much steeped in the keyboard laden late 80's style, which would make perfect sense since it was released in 1986. I really can't say that I remember ever hearing of this band, though the name does sound familiar. Maybe it's because the band is named after a Kiss song.

It is obvious that they were making every attempt to to cash in on the AOR/Hair Metal cash cow that was the late 80's. My guess is that if I looked up a video from the album the band's hair would rival that of Whitesnake in 1987.

I probably would have liked this back then if it had been on my radar. It's somewhat melodic though the production certainly isn't the best. The vocalist has the prototypical voice from that time period as well.

The cherry track (as picked by one Jon S.) is one of the more cheesy/filler sounding tracks here for me. Breakin' Down The Barriers would probably be my pick for the cherry track.

This album is okay for what it is, and we already know that it is what it is. It probably deserves a place in a time capsule for people to listen to in about a hundred years.