Year : 2023
Style : Hard Rock , Glam Rock
Country : United States
Audio : 320 kbps + front
Size : 156 mb
Bio:
Angel is an American glam and hard rock band from Washington, D.C., United States, formed in the mid-1970s by Punky Meadows and Mickie Jones. They were signed to Casablanca Records, and had the image of dressing in white.Angel was discovered by Kiss bass player Gene Simmons performing at a nightclub and was eventually signed to the same label as Kiss, Casablanca.Angel's image of dressing in all white was a deliberate contrast to Kiss, which wore black. Angel sported an androgynous image and elaborate stage sets. They were slammed by rock critics, and Frank Zappa ridiculed the all-male band’s female appearance in the song “Punky’s Whips”.Angel never achieved mass commercial success but acquired a following as a cult band.Their first album was the self-titled Angel and consisted of guitarist Punky Meadows, bassist Mickie Jones, vocalist Frank DiMino, keyboardist Gregg Giuffria, and drummer Barry Brandt.This lineup would hold for the following two albums, Helluva Band and On Earth as It Is in Heaven, after which Jones would be replaced by Felix Robinson.They made an appearance in the film Foxes and Frank DiMino sang “Seduce Me Tonight” on the Flashdance soundtrack.DiMino and Meadows departed the band in 1981, and the remaining members brought in vocalist Fergie Frederiksen (later of Toto) and guitarist Ricky Phillips (later of The Babys, then Bad English, then Styx), but this lineup dissolved shortly thereafter.The former members of Angel went on to other things following the release of their live album. Lead vocalist Frank DiMino joined UFO guitarist Paul Raymond in the Paul Raymond Project in which he sang lead vocals. Bassist Felix Robinson played on the debut album of the band White Lion, Fight to Survive. Angel’s keyboardist Gregg Giuffria had modest success as the leader of the band Giuffria during the 1980s as well as with the band House of Lords, who - sans Giuffria - reunited in 2002 and released a new album, The Power and the Myth on Frontiers Records. In 2006, Giuffria appeared as a guest keyboardist on House of Lords' LP World Upside Down, and they released Come to My Kingdom in 2008 without Giuffria.In the late 1990s, Angel reformed with a new line-up. Keyboardist Gordon G.G. Gebert joined the band in 1999 but left in 2002. Currently, the band members are Frank DiMino, vocals; Barry Brandt, drums; Randy Gregg, bass; Steve Blaze, guitars; and Michael T. Ross, keyboards.[4] The band’s 1999 release In the Beginning also features guest appearances by original guitarist Punky Meadows, as well as Robinson. In 2000 came the release of Angel: The Collection, making it the most extensive Angel greatest hits compilation, including 16 songs.In 2006, Angel released two singles albums which has singles released through the band’s career (1975-1981), and even though it has most singles released at that time it does not include “Better Days” which was taken off the White Hot album and replaced with “The Winter Song”. This song remains unreleased on CD or cassette format. It is however available as a 7" single but is very hard to find. Angel is now working on a new album, which so far has no name, but has three songs written for it. They are: “Worship the Sun”, “Hold On to Your Dreams”, and the third untitled song.Bassist and founding member Mickie Jones died in San Dimas, California on September 5, 2009, after a long battle with liver cancer. Jones performed on four Angel albums (Angel, Helluva Band, On Earth as It Is in Heaven and An Anthology). He toured extensively with the band in the United States for several years. Before Angel, he played in the rock group BUX, which included guitarist Punky Meadows (Angel) and singer Ralph Morman (Joe Perry Project, and Savoy Brown). BUX released one album on Capitol Records, We Come to Play in 1976. Both Jones and Meadows were asked to join the New York Dolls but declined. After leaving Angel, he formed the Los Angeles band EMPIRE and was the lead singer. Empire included drummer Steve Riley (L.A. Guns). Over the years, he became interested in film production and would later work in the film industry.Singer Frank DiMino now resides in Las Vegas, Nevada and plays in classic rock tribute bands. Recently, he appeared on the Sin City Sinners Christmas album, singing lead vocals on the holiday classic "Winter Wonderland". Meadows issued his first-ever solo album in 2016, Fallen Angel.
Album:
Angel was of course everything that was over the top, overblown and gloriously outrageous about the 70’s. A band that wore all white had a spectacular stage show and were the complete embodiment of Pomp Rock – I loved it, and as a kid could never get enough even if those dreams were an ocean away in the U.S. Everyone here in the U.K. seemed to be obsessed with Punk when I was playing ‘On Earth as it is in Heaven’, in truth I largely missed connecting with punk – to me The Clash and the Pistols were pale imitators of the past – bands like MC5, The Stooges, The New York Dolls, Blondie and Talking Heads – East Coast U.S. bands that did it far better. Angel was a band from the West Coast – another Universe entirely! Sadly white satin was in hard supply in the U.K. at the end of the 70’s (probably a good thing in retrospect) so as I basked in the wonder of 1979’s ‘Sinful’ which I still consider one of the greatest albums of all time, I could get away without a bashing from the Punks and the Skins and the Mods as I carried my Kiss and Angel albums home.Angel of course have rekindled the flame before with the ‘early days’ vibe of ‘In the Beginning’ back in 1999, but it was the second reformation of the band with Frank and Punky in 2019 and the resulting album ‘Risen’ that things really seemed to click and 4 years later here we are with ‘Once Upon a Time’ featuring the same line up as that album.Opener ‘The Torch’ has the wonderfully early Angel overblown sound that I loved as a kid but with a distinctly modern sheen that rounds off the excesses and sharpens the guitars. It’s a great opener and ‘Black Moon Rising’ that follows doubles down with some great guitar and wonderful melodies. It’s a great way to open the new record and whilst it may not blow old or new fans away there’s enough in the opening to suggest there may be gold ahead. And it doesn’t take long to make that strike. The first nugget comes with ‘It’s Alright’ – the Synth-infused light Rocker that graced albums like Sinful – it’s gloriously unashamedly 1979 again! It’s also a great choice for a first single and builds upon the early promise.It’s not all gold though… The title track might just have the cheesiest lyrics I’ve heard this Century and then some! As a song ‘Once Upon a Time a Devil and an Angel Fell in Love (And it Did Not End Well)’ is like Andrew Lloyd Webber got drunk with Jim Steinman one night and created a rock opera on the back of a beermat. And if you think the song is overblown then the breakdown is even more preposterous than those boys could come up with on a tequila and absinth binge! As much as I may cringe though on one level on another it is sublime! You love Pomp? Then this might be the most Pomp of all!After that double white satin moment the waterfall and piano that open ‘Let it Rain’ thankfully bring you back to Earth. ‘Let it Rain’ is a wonderful song with some nice ELO overtones and great melodies that steady the ship nicely!But if you want ‘parping’ synth then ‘Psyclone’ even has those space noises that were discontinued in the late 80’s but it’s fucking great! If you want and crave those authentic Angel sounds of yesteryear then this is one for you! And this for me is where things really come alive and it just doesn’t stop! ‘Blood of My Blood, Bone of My Bone’ starts off with a horn-like synth pattern more like old school Rhythm and Blues than Rock and Roll and those sweet backing vocals just add to the overall sound. It’s a wonderful Soul-infused number that though stunningly and completely out of place is simply wonderful . As is ‘Turn the Record Over’ which has that wonderful ‘Sinful’ vibe. Honestly this could be my favourite part of the whole album! Pitching the album right is a wonderfully rocky ride as then we are treated to ‘Rock Star’ that seems to grab a snatch of ‘Layla’ to open. It’s a nice hard rocker that treads a well-worn path lyrically and whilst not a stand out for me it’s worth your time. It’s the early Angel sounds of ‘Without You’ though that really pulls you in again. It takes you right back to those early records seemingly effortlessly!‘Without You’ is another brooding Rocker that reaches back to the early days and brings that sound up to date rather like the opener did, but it arguably works even better here. It’s down to ‘Liar Liar’ to close the album proper with a nice mid-tempo rocker that hints at later albums of the original incarnation replete with cheesy lyrics and feelgood chorus. It’s a wonderfully anachronistic way to end which of course is all part of the charm.The CD version adds three bonus tracks ‘Daddy’s Girl’. ‘C’mon’ and ‘Let The Kid Out.’ ‘Daddy’s Girl’ sounds like an outtake from ‘On Earth’ or ‘White Hot’, a nice Pop infused Rocker that leans towards AOR. It’s one that definitely deserves a spot in the main event. The shorter, sharper ‘C’Mon’ too sounds great too! It’s almost perfect save for the final track ‘Let The Kid Out’ that closes out the CD. It’s a song that sports some cringy lyrics and comes across as a lite low calorie version of ‘Wild and Hot’ at least in sentiment! If there was one track I could have done without on the entire record it might just be this one. A very odd way to close what is a solid and consistent return.If I have one comment on the album overall it would be that as 10 songs this could have been a classic , conversely as a fan I don’t think I could have done without those other moments that make up the whole, except maybe one! Angel Mark #3 is delivering again. Can’t wait to see them live!
Line-Up:
Frank DiMino: Vocals
Punky Meadows: Acoustic & Electric Guitars
Gregg Giuffria: Keyboards, Synths, Vocals
Mickie Jones: Bass
Barry Brandt: Drums
additional personnel:
Dan Wyman: Synthesizer, Programming
Tracklist:
01. The Torch
02. Black Moon Rising
03. It's Alright
04. Once Upon A Time An Angel And A Devil Fell In Love (And It Did Not End Well)
05. Let It Rain
06. Psyclone
07. Blood Of My Blood, Bone Of My Bone
08. Turn The Record Over
09. Rock Star
10. Without You
11. Liar Liar
12. Daddy's Girl (Bonus Track)
13. C'mon (Bonus Track)
14. Let The Kid Out (Bonus Track)
Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
