Drive, She Said - Road To Paradise (Best of) | ||
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Album Cover: |
Label: Frontiers Records Producers: Mark Mangold & Al Fritsch Year: 1998 Total Playing Time: 80:03 mins:secs Review date: 6 March 1999 |
| Web site: www.Indigorecords.com
Email: | ||
| Rating: 8/9 | ||
| Verdict: Worth it, if only for the bonus tracks alone. | ||
| Like I said in my Mystic Healer review a couple of months back Road To Paradise was an album I'd have to check out. Well, now I have, despite the fact that I already own their s/t & Drivin' Wheel albums. At least there are some bonus tracks to keep my interest. Drive, She Said are cult AOR heroes. The debut self-titled album is a classic. No surprise then that it has been one of my favourites over the years. The quality dropped with Drivin' Wheel & I gave the third & final album, Excelerator, a miss. Forgetting about the bonus tracks for the moment, when "If This Is Love" strikes up I remember just how much I like DSS. Keyboard laden AOR with great vocals. From then on it is rollercoaster ride through DSS's finest moments. 'Don't You Know What Love Is' is their version of the Touch tune from earlier in Mark Mangold's career. And so the album proceeds & for me it is a case of favourite after favourite. For example, Love Has No Pride, co-written with Aldo Nova, was a song that I remember dismissing as too wimpy when I first listened to the self-titled album, but which I subsequently grew to love. It has been a while since I dusted down the DSS albums and I'm thoroughly enjoying listening to the tunes again on this compilation album. Drivin' Wheel is just about the heaviest tune on offer and feels kinda out of place. It is also a reminder that some of the songs on the second and third albums didn't match up to the class of the debut. There isn't much more I can say about the previously available material. I suspect that many Mood Swings readers will be more interested in the bonus tracks because they may already own some DSS albums. 'Look At What You Got' is a belting start to the album and already up there with my favourite DSS songs. 'Fallin' Again' and 'Suddenly Closer' are more relaxed and require a bit more listening to appreciate. 'Suddenly Closer' has got a little interlude that reminds me of Led Zep (All Of My Love). 'Just For The Moment' is stuck in the middle of the other tracks & fits right in there. 'Water From A Stone' & 'All I'm Living For' are also worthy additions to your collection of DSS songs. The less said about the title track, Road To Paradise, the better. It is so annoying that I've deducted half a point from the rating. If you're a DSS fan, then I'd say that it is probably worth getting for the bonus tracks alone. If you haven't got any DSS in your collection, put matters right and get this collection. | ||
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