Stan Bush first made his mark as a solo artist with his self-titled debut in 1983. Now considered an underground classic in AOR circles, this album was filled with melodic rock cuts in the vein of Survivor and Foreigner, yet it didn't make Bush a household name. The follow-up record featuring his backing band, called "Stan Bush and Barrage", hit shelves in 1987. By now, it seemed Bush was gaining some traction, having landing many of his songs on movie soundtracks (most notably "The Touch" from the 1986 Transformers movie). Still, big time chart success continued to prove elusive. From the Barrage album, and also featured on the soundtrack to a film called The Wraith, "Hearts Vs. Heads" is a terrific rocker. Bush sounds a little like Sammy Hagar on this one, and the hook will be in your head and heart for days.
BLVD is one of those AOR bands that fell through the cracks in the late 80s and early 90s, even after making it easier to find their records in the store by changing their name to Boulevard. Hailing from Canada, they released their debut record in 1988 and opened for the likes of Boston and fellow Canadians, Glass Tiger. Their sound is very much in the vein of Survivor or Night Ranger. "Dream On" is the song that gets the record started. It did well in their native land, but failed to chart in the US. Too much competition at the time, I guess.
A Norwegian artist named Issa covered this song in 2012 for her album, "Can't Stop".
You may not hear AOR on the radio anymore, but that doesn't mean there aren't some excellent artists still carrying a torch for this genre. Take Robbie and Brian La Blanc, for example. These brothers lead a classic sounding AOR band called Blanc Faces that harks back to the sound of Survivor and Journey. Blanc Faces have released two records so far, and "Don't Take It Away" comes from their 2009 effort, "Falling From The Moon".
Composed of members from the bands Heart and Sheriff,
Alias was one of those dime-a-dozen hard rock bands capitalizing on glam and
hairband trends just before grunge shampooed the scene.
Released in 1990, the self-titled debut record from supergroup Alias reached #114 on the US Billboard 200.
Like most “hard rock” bands at the time, the power ballad
was the main attraction and their best shot at chart success. Alias proved no
exception and almost hit #1 with their monster hit, “More Than Words Can Say”,
which would have been a repeat success for lead singer Freddy Curci – his
amazing voice topped the charts when Sheriff re-released “When I’m With You” in 1989.
Alias almost hit the top 10 again with the pleasant mid-tempo
number, “Waiting For Love”.
The album had a string of other potential hits, but the music landscape was
changing rapidly. I always thought “True Emotion” was one of the best tracks on
this record – it probably would have hit top 10 if released just a year or two
earlier.
Alias released a long-awaited follow-up record called “Never
Say Never” in 2009, most of it containing material recorded in 1992.
