Year : 1991 (Girder Records Remastered Edition 2019)
Style : Melodic Hard Rock , AOR , Christian Rock
Country : Canada
Audio : 320 kbps + scans + Video
Size : 138 mb
Bio:
Revolving around the guitar-playing and songwriting abilities of Dennis Cameron, this Canadian Christian rock band issued three albums in the late 80s and early 90s. Angelica featured Cameron, Robert Pallet (bass), Scott Ernest (drums) and Andy Lyon (vocals), whose influences such as Dokken and Rainbow were obvious. Walkin' In Faith achieved a measure of crossover support from the secular heavy rock fraternity, impressed by Cameron’s guitar playing, the quality of songs such as the title track and the vocal abilities of new singer Jerome Mazza (Ernest was replaced by session men on the album). The release of Rock, Stock & Barrel the following year suggested that the standard of Walkin' In Faith was unlikely to be reproduced, and no further albums have been released.“If there’s anything that I could tell kids that might be watching or that might listen to the records is that–It’s just how God has worked in my life. God has really only worked in my life in times that I’ve been brought to a point in my life where I had to just give everything up. Especially in a position where I didn’t know what I was going to do next, I just had to walk in faith–and trust in Him. Those were the times that God really came through. Being in a Christian rock band isn’t the fame and the glory that it might seen to be to some people because we get media attention. This is the fun part of it. This happens maybe two hours out of the whole year, and the rest of the year it’s a real warfare. Anytime you step out to do something for the Lord you can really get pounded on, by the enemy or just by the world–because it’s not as easily accepted. If it’s one thing I could tell kids it’s just hang in there; don’t forsake or compromise your faith or your beliefs for the world or for anything. In a troubled time, knowing that I’ve gone through them–and I go through them almost weekly–just trust in the Lord. He’ll pull you through it. He did for me. ~Dennis Cameron” Here are the personal thoughts of Dennis Cameron about “Angelica”: “Angelica started as a vision that I had for an ideal band full of believer musicians. The experience making the first album was to be the “Awakening” for me both as a musician and as a professional. Here’s a lesson that I hope any readers can learn from.The first Angelica album was recorded in Costa Mesa, California with the starting line-up of: Andy Lyon, Scott Ernest, Bob Pallen and myself. The finishing line-up for the album was a little different . While in the pre-production stage of making the first album, Andy Lyon, the vocalist (more likely from a lack of experience on all our parts) chose to view the the opportunity to prepare for recording with less enthusiasm than the rest of the band. The result being that after a couple of days of having Ken Tamplin push him in his performance (as Ken was hired to produce the vocals on the album) that the singer “burned out”.At this point, (as humbling as it is to say) we were in need of a singer to salvage the (what was now being refered to as the Dennis Cameron) project. We now needed to find someone to finish out the album. Ken had suggested two replacements, Bob Carlisle or Rob Rock. Having once been a proud owner and fan of the Driver album (Rudy Sarzo, Tommy Aldridge, Tony MacAlpine and Rob Rock) Rob was the easy pick of the two to best suite the music style. At the time of recording, Rob was in the process of regrouping a new version of Driver and was rehearsing and recording with them as well as doing the session work for Angelica. What a trooper he was! I can remember Rob coming to the sessions with this big red swollen throat saying that he had just come from Driver rehearsals and that he was pumped and ready. Not withholding, Rob would assume his best Iron Maiden pose in the vocal booth and trek on with our sessions.Rob’s voice was in a higher range than Andy’s, which meant that some of the vocal melodies had to be reworked to fit his voice. For example, the original version of “Shine On Me” melody started on a major 3rd, but was transposed to the 5th for Rob. We finished the album a couple of weeks late due to all the mayhem and I returned home (Ontario, Canada) wondering how I was going to continue with this band under these circumstances.”
Album:
We just presented here ANGELICA‘s first two albums in remastered form, now it’s time for the band’s third effort, 1991’s “Rock, Stock & Barrel”, boasting a vibrant sound and a refreshed artwork.This, the band’s third album, following the 1989 self-titled release and 1990’s ‘Walkin’ In Faith’, is perhaps the most AOR / Melodic Hard Rock oriented.At the time of the album’s original release, I saw the video for the single “Cover Me” before I heard the whole disc… it was quite different sounding from the prior two, much more melodious and AORish, and is still a highlight track for me to this day.Each of the first three Angelica releases had a different vocalist, and this time around, we find Drew Baca stepping up to the mic. Drew had previously worked with the band Roxway. His pipes are very clean.Dennis Cameron always provides amazing fret-work, but what really stands out on this release for me, is the well produced and pumping bass guitar tracks throughout.Robert Pallen’s bass guitar lines have stood out quite well on previous recordings, but this time around they just seem even more highlighted than before, played & recorded in the Billy Sheehan mode.All three of these Angelica early releases are really good late 80s US Melodic Hard Rock for different reasons and different strengths, each with their own slightly different style and flair and personality, but for me, “Rock, Stock & Barrel” is just the pinnacle of the strong trilogy.The reason? Simple; the AOR factor is more present than before.This line-up brought the goods in every way.Kudos to Girder Music for the remastering of Angelica’s albums, for a new generation to enjoy as much as those of us do who were around the initial times these were released.Grab these limited edition releases before they are gone.
Line Up:
Drew Baca - lead vocals
Dennis Cameron - guitar, backing vocals
Robert Pallen - bass, backing vocals
Bobby Lawrence - drums
Tracklist:
01. The Fire Inside 4:23
02. Someone to Believe in Me 4:46
03. Cover Me 4:54
04. Home Sweet Heaven 4:55
05. A Little Love 3:57
06. Sail Away 4:11
07. Keep Pushin' On 4:46
08. Bumble Boob Groove 1:52
09. Rhyme and Reason 3:52
10. Without Words 4:26
11. Oh Canada 1:46
+ Video "Cover Me" (Official Video)
Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
