Founded in the second half of the ’80s by singer / songwriter Tony Touris, his band TOURIS released in 1991 their indie debut CD “Big Plans’. Their brand of melodic rock with AORish ballads were the sound & style of the moment, unfortunately the band never secured a major label contract.
Perhaps for being located in the US East Coast where they toured the NY / New Jersey area with reported hot and packed venues – and with all members refusing to move to California – Touris struggled to get a record deal. But they didn’ give up and having into the line-up guitarist Bob Aquaviva, also producer and owner of a recording studio (he was later the track engineer on Boston’s album ‘Corporate America’, among other works), the band recorded this debut “Big Plans” in 1990, released by themselves the following year.
Throughout their active years, Touris played extensively, supporting legendary bands such as Trixter, Danger Danger, Tuff, and Benny Mardones.
After decades out of print, now FnA Records is reissuing the album properly re-titled “Big(ger) Plans” as 7 bonus tracks have been added to the tracklist plus a remastered sound.
Musically, Touris is classic late ’80s U.S. melodic hard rock avoiding linear arrangements, with most songs featuring ‘inside breaks’ and different arrangements, layers of harmony vocals, nice guitar riffs and keyboards flourishes.
Among my favorites there’s the smooth AOR of ‘Tonight’ and the fine ballad ‘We’ll Meet Again Someday’ both with a bit of ’85 Bon Jovi on it, ‘Sweet Home’ which adds acoustics to the mix in a Tyketto mode, and midtempo ‘I’m Sorry’ recalling a little of Alias with its atmospheric keys.
‘Dreams’ is a joyful melodic rocker, the melody of title track reminds me of a Two Fires song, while ‘Our Hearts’ has a sound similar to what Johnny Lima would do later.
Touris’ “Big(ger) Plans” has that classy melodic rock sound and style we all love, and it’s great to see it available again.
Highly Recommended
01 It's Alright Now (Remastered)
02 Touch N' Love (Remastered)
03 Couldn't Love You More (Remastered)
04 We'll Meet Again Someday (Remastered)
05 Sweet Home (Demo) (Remastered)
06 Tonight (Remastered)
07 Don't Grow Up Too Fast (Remastered)
08 Dreams (Remastered)
09 Big Plans (Remastered)
09 Lonely Town (remastered)
10 Circles (demo verson 2004)
11 Daddy Loves You (Demo) (Remastered)
12 I'm Sorry (Original Version)
13 Our Hearts (Remastered)
14 All For One (Remastered)
15 Even Me (Demo) (Remastered)
16 Searching For The Answer (Demo) (Remastered)
17 Only Love (Demo) (Remastered)
18 I Like Love (Demo) (Remastered)
19 I'll Wait For You (1986) (Demo) (Remastered)
Touris – Big(ger} Plans 2025 FnA Records Remaster, MP3+FLAC
 |
