You can make fun of the “Awesome” 80s (as well as the “Have a Great Day” late 70s) all you want, but the fact is that they produced a couple of genres that surprisingly stand up pretty darned well against this present day of agony and nihilism. Here are a few survivors..,
Singer/songwriter Christopher Cross was part of the “mellow male” era, as in Michael McDonald or Al Stewart. He made James Taylor seem fidgety in comparison when he had gentle rocking hits like “Sail Away” and “All Right.” He then seemed to fade into the background, probably doing State Fairs and such, and then he put out an incredibly impressive disc Doctor Faith a couple years ago that caught a few ears. Here, on this 2 cd/dvd set of a concert in France, Cross delivers smooth and sleek takes of all his hits, and some material from that recent session. The supporting team of Dave Beyer/dr, Richie Gaiate Garcia/perc, Chazz Frichtel/b, Kiki Ebsen/key and Andy Suzuki/sax-key is fairly jazzy as well, with everyone getting a chance to show some chops as they stretch out on “I Really Don’t Know Anymore” and “Walking in Avalon.” Cross’s voice has held up pretty well, and his clipped delivery of his lyrics is quite the thing.
Meanwhile, Earth Wind & Fire founding members Philip Bailey, Verdine White and Ralph Johnson get together one more time to put out a textbook lesson in fun loving funk and soul. Their patented harmonies, crisp horns, slapping bass and neck throbbing backbeat are all apparent on upbeat and celebratory tunes like “Sign On” and “Night of My Life.” Uplifting anthems and joyful love songs make romance a joy and not a burden (as in so many modern R&B tunes these days) on “”Love is Law” and “My Promise” while your mellow soul is reached with the wacka wooka guitar on “Guiding Lights.” Jazzy and atmospheric pieces like “Splashes” and a lovely acoustic “Belo Horizonte” show off the instrumental side, making this up for the Comeback of the year. Get on the polyester pants and boogie!
The last part of the 80s was the head bashing heavy metal bands like Deep Purple, Van Halen, The Scorpions…oh the list is endless. Here, the group Volto!, consisting of Danny Carey/dr, Lance Morrison/b, John Ziegler/g and Jeff Babko/key give the had bashing music a bit of a twist in that there are no vocals screeching down your ears. No songs of groupies, drugs, and the excesses of life, just rip roaring riffs as on “Grip It” and “Whopner” to touch the inner Air Guitarist in you. Ziegler’s got some mega chops, but of all three of these discs, this one sounds the most dated; it seems suited to a certain age group or time of life, unless you never moved on past Jeff Beck’s Blow By Blow, which is this discs closest relative.
Eagle Rock
Legacy Recordings
Fantasy Records