Okay, I admit I may have led a sheltered life. I hadn't heard of
Stingray.
One of the great things about rock music is this: If you keep looking, if you keep casting your net, you're bound to catch a real prize now and again.
And so it is with
Stingray. Another band who fit firmly into the "wrong place, wrong time" category.
Stingray was a South African band formed by producer, David Gresham from the ashes of hit pop band, The Rising Songs.
There's a lot of
Styx in there, some Boston and a strong hint of
AOR/pomp, in the vein of Aviary and Harlequin. A winning combination that overcomes its derivative roots by sheer strength of songs and performance.
Strangely, the band's European success came in Germany only, where they had a couple of minor hits in 1979, the year of the album's release.
German label Toolbox aim to put that right by reissuing this
"Revisited, Remastered' version.
The first 3 tracks on the album - '
Better The Devil You Know', '
The Man In My Shoes' and '
Same Old Party' - were released as singles back in '79. And you can see why. Each is simply and elegantly crafted, with a plenty of zip and verve. And importantly, each builds quickly and expectantly to an aurally adhesive hook.
Further on we encounter
'Breakdown's relatively complex arrangement. It's a fascinating find, clearly aimed at soft rock subtlety and proggy, pomp rock splendour, in contrast to the bouncy, breezy, poptastic
AOR that kicks off the album.
Arguably though, the outstanding track here is '
Love Saver'. If a good
AOR song wraps up a dramatic slice of life in three colourful, candy coated minutes, with tunefulness, drive and urgency, then this track is it.
Like Mark Mangold once said, ".(songwriters) are always reaching for that awesome melodic moment."
On this occasion,
Stingray got damn close.
No question, a more than worthy reissue. Let's hope Toolbox get to the band's 1980 follow up too.
Written by
Brian Monday, June 22, 2009
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