WINGS OF HEAVEN

This album (despite being a Top 5 hit in the UK) was nowhere to be found on antipodean shores but I procured it second hand for $2 on cassette somewhere and couldn't wait to hear it.

Expecting hard hitting metal to blast from the speakers, I was immediately let down by the perfectly manicured AOR politely filling the room. This presented a quandary. How could I bang my head and pump my fist to music that sounded like John Farnham or Michael Bolton?

However, I played it again and realised the subtlety of the approach was actually a good thing and yes, I could still mime holding a lighter to inspiring romantic ditties like 'It Must Have been Love' and enjoy the guilty pleasure moments like when the guitar chimes in on 'I'm never gonna give you up...DA DA DA DA' in 'Start Talking Love'. The keyboards on this album too are more atmospheric and economical and usually soar in at key emotional moments in the song. The varied and prose-worthy lyrical content also elevates the music above the conceptually banal bands such as Asia who by this stage had dissolved into a fog of riff-laden AOR drivel.

This brand of punchy AOR with catchy melodies and impassioned vocals is worth the investment especially if you are a fan of this band. Aside from the solid hit singles including 'Days of No Trust', 'Wild Swan' and the excellent momentum of the closing track, the World War themed epic 'Don't Wake the Lion', it's a lean yet muscular album with dynamics and bombast in equal measure.

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