LEE AARON‘s impact on Canadian music is undeniable. Over her career she did metal, melodic rock, AOR music to jazz and classic rock, always with her distinctive voice exploring new music colors. Lee was the ‘Metal Queen’ in her origins, but at the end of the ’80s and with the success of the likes of Robin Beck, Fiona, Lita Ford, Vixen, etc, she needed a fresh sound.
With a polished, bright, melodic production sound and songs co-written with Stan Meissner and Paul Sabu, Lee Aaron released her fifth album “BodyRock” in 1989, and it was a success. While she never really broke-up the American market (the album ranked fine though) “BodyRock” went double platinum in Canada, and sold very well in Europe. The album is Aaron’s most successful and highest-charting release to date (recently was reissued on vinyl LP).
“BodyRock” was hailed as one of the 20 most influential Canadian albums of the ’80s, with artists like Avril Lavigne, Alanis Morissette, and Shania Twain all under her influence.
As requested, here’s the only remastered version of “BodyRock“, now out of print, which sound fabulous. If you like that late ’80s glossy female-fronted melodic rock, you need this one.
“BodyRock” packs Lee’s trademark intensity and sexy vocals, and memorable songwriting. Yeah, the Metal Queen goes pop-metal, but she does everything well. Early fans never liked this change of style, but I know many playing air guitar and dancing to ‘Whatcha Do To My Body’, the album’s successful single.
Opener ‘Nasty Boyz’ is fun ‘n catchy, “Tough Girls Don’t Cry” is a great song, and then we have a solid, late ’80s power ballad on “Sweet Talk”.
Lee does a very good cover of Montrose’s Seventies hit ‘Rock Candy’, a reminder of how a good singer she is.
The Canadian Metal Queen already started a left turn to a more mainstream sound on her previous self-titled album, but it’s on “BodyRock” where she really did a reinvention to show off her vocal talents without the traditional metal background.
And it’s refreshing, showcasing some of the best songwriting and strongest music of her career. Despite the shock value to her early fans, she succeeds in this softer, commercial vein with mature subject matter.
While today some people may consider BodyRock’s production a bit outdated, we, ’80s maniacs, love this stuff. And this remaster comes huge out of the speakers.
Highly Recommended
01 – Nasty Boyz
02 – Yesterday
03 – Gotta Thing For You
04 – Rock Candy
05 – Tough Girls Don’t Cry
06 – Sweet Talk
07 – Rock The Hard Way
08 – Shame
09 – Whatcha Do To My Body
10 – Hands On
11 – Rebel Angel
12 – How Deep
Lee Aaron – lead vocals, backing vocals
John Albani – guitar, background vocals, producer
Scott Humphrey – programming, bass (except track 12)
Matthew Gerrard – bass (track 12)
Phil Naro – background vocals
Chas Anthony – background vocals
LEE AARON – BodyRock (Canadian Remastered reissue) 2002, MP3+FLAC
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