Year : 1988 (MTM Classix Edition 2005)
Style : Melodic Hard Rock , AOR
Country : Germany
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans + Video
Size : 126 mb
Bio:
Hard rock band from Berlin, Germany active from 1985 to 1988.Great melodic Hard rock band from Berlin. Sadly, this 1988 album was the bands one and only release and it has since earned the status of a “cult classic”. Commercial Hard Rock was their thing and they had this special flair, which turned good songs into pretty great catchy tunes. The keyboard had an important part alike at many Hard’n Heavy bands, although it wasn’t too bombastic and too much used alike at many Wannabe Metal bands.The singer Lutz Salzwedel alias Dan Lucas may sound familiar to some because he recorded three albums later under the name Dan Lucas that was more melodic rock/AOR. If you’re into German 80s AOR with fluffy keyboards and hookladen songs with catchy bombastic refrains and brilliant melodies -you should get their hands on this one.
Album:
We presented here many must-listen Melodic Hard Rock / AOR albums from the ’80s in remastered form, and today it’s time for this German band and their debut LP, reissued with 2 bonus tracks. We’re talking about KARO 1988’s “Heavy Birthday”, and there’s two reasons to this feature. First; it’s a superb album, and second, it was requested in max quality.This ”Heavy Birthday [MTM Classix remastered +2]” CD appeared on the great, specialized German label MTM Classix, and remastered by Tony Übler, responsible of most YesterRock remasters.KARO was founded by keyboardist Karo Ceh (aka Karo Straub) and drummer Ronnie Bosien from the ashes of the hard rock outfit Morgenrot. Both wanted to explore the more commercial sound ruling the airwaves circa 1986. They found a terrific vocalist in Lutz Salzwedel, who later changed his artistic name to Dan Lucas releasing two stupendous AOR albums (‘Canada’ and ‘2000’).“Heavy Birthday” was released in 1988, and its title and artwork makes you think of a heavy metal product. Not at all.This is pure second half of the ’80s Euro Melodic Hard Rock / AOR, with lots of keyboards of course, but not overwhelming giving room to the vocals to shine and complemented by powerful doses of guitar providing a solid backbone.There is a lot of similarity to other outfits around about the same time: including CRAAFT, ROKO, FATE, MYDRA, and even early SHY.There’s no weak tracks on this album, all catchy and driving. Opener and first single ‘Wanna Be Loved’ has all the necessary ingredients for a rich melodic rock offering, with a bouncy rhythm, synth flashes, top vocals and a catchy chorus. This reissue includes a newly recorded version specially done by the band for the occasion, plus an acoustic take.Second track in ‘One Of A Kind’ has a kind of Shy-like feel Salzwedel / Lucas in a high pitch fashion, there’s an elegant midtempo in ‘Still Hate To Lose’, while ‘Sister Sister’ is a winner: synth / keyboard-driven AOR of the highest order.‘Ball Of Fire’ is another favorite of mine with ‘that ’80s’ atmosphere and there’s loads of pumping bass and parping synth on ‘Call Of The Wild’, an anthemic track which breaks out the organ as well.‘No Mans Land’ shows KARO’s hard rock origins with a punchy rhythm, as well as ‘Cold Shoulder’ combining racy guitar lines and high-flying synth parts. The album finishes up with the stomping ‘Nobody’s Fool’, where the band does something more poppy akin DOMINOE meets Canadian hi-tech AOR.Regarded as a ‘cult classic’, I think KARO’s “Heavy Birthday [digitally remastered +2 bonus]” should be placed a step or two above. This is a terrific slice of classic ’80s AOR / Melodic Hard Rock in an European fashion, the kind of albums you really love if visiting this blog.Take a look again above about how this album sound alike, and I forgot to mention BONFIRE as well as comparison. Awesome stuff.
Line Up:
Lutz Salzwedel alias Dan Lucas - Vocals - See also: ex-KARUSSELL, PASSION
Erich Holstein - Guitars
Dieter Seeburg - Bass
Ronald Bosien - Drums
Karo Straub - Keyboards
Production:
Produced At – Hotline Studios
Produced At – Comforts Place
Engineered At – Comforts Place
Mixed At – Comforts Place
Edited At – Battery Studios, London
Mastered At – Teldec-Studio, Berlin
Cover – Dieter Klinkhart
Design, Art Direction – Emmo Reiss
Edited By [Assembled By] – Tony Platt
Engineer, Mixed By, Co-producer – Andy Lunn, Tony Platt
Mastered By – Christian Stegmaier
Photography By – Klaus Dieter Gerding*
Photography By [Karo] – Dieter Eikelpoth
Producer – Peter Hauke
Remastered By – Toni Übler
Tracklist:
01. Wanna Be Loved
02. One Of A Kind
03. Still Hate To Loose
04. Sister Sister
05. Ball Of Fire
06. Call Of the Wild
07. No-Man's Land
08. Out On The Line
09. Cold Shoulder
10. Nobody's Fool
11 Wanna Be Loved (New Version 2005) (Bonus Track)
12. Wanna Be Loved (Acoustic Version) (Bonus Track)
+ Video "Sister Sister" (Live Video)
Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
