Year : 1986-1990 (Frontiers Music Records Remastered Edition 2010)
Style : Melodic Hard Rock
Country : United States
Audio : 320 kbps + scans
Size : 174 mb
Bio:
Nelson is an American rock band founded by singer/songwriters Matthew and Gunnar Nelson (twin sons of Ricky Nelson and Kristin Nelson). The band achieved huge success during the early 90s with their debut album After the Rain. The album featured the No. 1 hit "(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection" and also reached double platinum status.After the success of their first album, the band claims to have been faced with conflicts with their record label, lack of support from the media, and the shift in music towards grunge and alternative rock. They eventually split with Geffen Records in 1995. Despite this, the band has continued to produce and release albums independently under their own label, Stone Canyon Records.Matthew and Gunnar also perform under the name of Ricky Nelson Remembered, as a tribute to their father. They are listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the only family to reach number one record status in three successive generations (beginning with grandparents Ozzie and Harriet Nelson).During the 1980s, Matthew and Gunnar played as Strange Agents and as The Nelsons, with which they played the Los Angeles club scene. A year after the death of their father in a plane crash, Lorne Michaels agreed to have the Nelsons as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live, at the request of their manager at the time. They became the first unsigned band to play on the show. During this iteration of the band, Matthew was the lead singer and bassist, while Gunnar played the drums. As they returned home from the show, Gunnar claims he had what he called "an epiphany", which he shared with his brother. He told him that they should break the band as it was and start sharing the front stage together. Gunnar promised to learn to play guitar and did so in a year.As the band tried to grab a record deal, they settled with Geffen Records and began approaching A&R executive John Kalodner. According to Gunnar, they met with Kalodner "every month for a year", during which he filtered the songs they brought him until they had enough for an album.During this time, they were also introduced to Marc Tanner, who helped them polish their songwriting skills.During this time, Nelson was also approached to contribute a song to the film Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Matthew and Gunnar then co-wrote a song with Dweezil Zappa called "Two Heads are Better than One". Since the band was in process of being signed up to Geffen, Kalodner recommended them not to use their names for the song, so they were billed as Power Tool instead. The song eventually became the film's theme song.After a year of meeting with Kalodner without being signed, Matthew and Gunnar met with him, against the wishes of their managers, and played an acoustic version of "(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection". Kalodner was impressed and the band was signed the next day.As the Nelsons prepared to go into the studio, they started assembling a band. They met drummer Bobby Rock at the MTV Music Awards, when he was still with Vinnie Vincent Invasion, and kept in touch. After that band broke up, Nelson asked him to join their band. Joey Cathcart had played guitars with the brothers in high school so they decided to approach him. They were introduced to guitarist Brett Garsed by their manager in Australia. Finally, they contacted Paul Mirkovich, who had worked with them during the demo sessions for the album.The full band headed to the studio where they worked with Marc Tanner. According to the Nelsons, John Kalodner "basically let us do our own thing".After the Rain was released in June 26, 1990 and became an instant success. The album ended up selling more than 3,000,000 copies, eventually being certified double platinum by RIAA. As a result, the band began a World Tour with over 300 concerts. Their first single, "(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection" peaked at #1 on Billboard's Hot 100. Their other songs "After the Rain", "More than Ever", and "Only Time will Tell" peaked at #6, #14, and #28 respectively.In 2010, Nelson reached a record deal with Frontiers Records. They've released three albums almost consecutively. The first, Before the Rain, is a collection of some of the demo songs that were left out of the After the Rain album. The second one is Perfect Storm, which is a compilation of live recordings from the After the Rain world tour. This is notable because, despite being such a massive world tour that covered almost 300 dates across the world, no official recording was made of it. The third album is a new studio album called Lightning Strikes Twice, which features new material from the band. It is the first original studio album from the band since Life was released in 1999.The release of the three albums in 2010 coincided with the band's official anniversary. For it, they organized a 20th Anniversary Tour around several countries. Singer/guitarist Mark Slaughter joined Nelson for the tour, which began at the Firefest in Nottingham, England, U.K.In addition to touring as Nelson, the twin singer-songwriters also perform a separate tribute act for their father, called "Ricky Nelson Remembered." Plus, they perform with celebrity all-star rock band Scrap Metal.
Album:
Here’s the early recordings from American melodic rockers NELSON before they got signed by a major label. Matthew and Gunnar were always perfectionists and even as teens they had recording studio experience because their father Ricky Nelson was musician too. So expect these recordings having a superior quality than regular ‘demos’. In fact, most of the 18 tracks featured in this ”Before The Rain” CD are very well done multi-track recordings.In an arrangement with Frontiers Music, the band opened the vaults and put together a collection of the original demo recordings that earned them their first record contract. Titled “Before The Rain”, this 18-song collection is a fascinating look back at the band’s earliest days.The songs in “Before The Rain” that made it into the ‘After the Rain’ album are all quite familiar, but subtly different. Obviously there’s a difference in production values, but it’s great to hear the little changes that were made in between; different solos & vocal melodies, and even lyrics show the evolution of these classic songs.If it were just a collection of demo versions of the ‘After The Rain’ songs this album would be interesting, but not an essential release. But this collection boasts demos for a further 10 songs that never made it to any Nelson studio album.That’s what makes “Before The Rain” an essential piece for any serious Nelson fan, and melodic rock in general. These unreleased songs are really good, and have the same spirit as the ‘After The Rain’ material, not to mention brilliant vocal harmonies, captivating melodies and hooks galore.In 1986, after writing songs with Dweezil Zappa for his debut LP “My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Momma” and writing and recording the title cut for the film “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” under the band name Power Tool, the Matthew and Gunnar Nelson bros decided they needed to hone their songwriting craft and learn from experts.They started with writer/producer Jack Ponti in New Jersey and recorded the songs they wrote that year with friends that eventually became the band Skid Row. Next, they journeyed to Australia to collaborate with Little River Band’s hit writer Graham Gobel and other writers for two months Down Under.A subsequent 3 month stay in the UK to write with hit makers Adrian Gurvitz and Argent’s Russ Ballard followed.Though elements from those experiences and sessions would wound up in later attempts, Nelson finally hit musical pay dirt writing songs in a bedroom in Pacific Palisades California and recorded them in a 16-track demo studio in a converted garage in the San Fernando Valley with an unknown writer/producer named Marc Tanner.The results are what you can hear now on “Before the Rain”. These are the original demonstration recordings that caught the attention of A&R legend John Kalodner in late 1989 and scored Nelson a recording contract with Geffen/DGC Records which led to eventual sales of more than 3,000,000 copies of “After The Rain” and all that followed, including a World tour with over 300 concerts.NELSON live line-up was even overqualified for the job. With some incredible virtuoso musicians such as Bobby Rock on drums, Brett Garsed on guitar, Paul Mirkovich on Keys and vocals and the addition of Joey Cathcart on vocals and second lead guitar, what you got was 4 part harmony, stellar musicianship, veteran showmanship, twin frontmen, and most importantly – great songs.Nelson played venues ranging in size from 1,200 to 60,000 seats between 1990-1992 from New York to Tokyo, sharing the stage with some great other bands and had some great openers, including House Of Lords, Tyketto, Enuff Z’nuff, Cinderella and Lynch Mob.“Before The Rain” feels like hearing an complete Nelson album that the band somehow forgot to release in 1991.If you’re a serious Nelson fan (and if you love this type of late ’80s / early ‘90s melodic rock you should be), then “Before The Rain” is a must-have release.It’s a great look back at the earliest versions of Nelson’s best-known tunes as well as a chance to hear well written songs that never made the album (but were more than good enough to).
Line Up:
Gunnar Nelson - Lead Vocals, Guitars
Matthew Nelson - Lead Vocals, Bass
Production:
Licensed To – Frontiers Records
Record Company – Frontiers Records S.r.l.
Producer – Gunnar Nelson, Matthew Nelson
Tracklist:
01. After The Rain
02. Bits And Pieces
03. (Can’t Live Without Your) Love And Affection
04. Will Ya Love Me
05. You’re All I Need Tonight
06. More Than Ever
07. (It’s Just) Desire
08. I Can Hardly Wait
09. Senorita
10. Everywhere I Go
11. Lets Get This Show On The Road
12. Far Away From Home
13. It’s Gotta Get Better
14. I Wish
15. That’s Love
16. Avalon
17. Runnin’ Out Of Time
18. Love Is All We’ve Got
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