ROXUS – ROXAS ; The Paris Sessions 2010

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Aussie band ROXUS fronted by singer Juno Roxas was without a doubt one of the best Melodic Rock acts ever emerged from Down Under. They only released a full length album, an EP and some singles, but all these include some real gems in the genre.

Someone requested here a supposedly ‘unreleased 2009 album by Roxus’, but it never existed, at least not recorded that year. Among rabid AOR / Melodic Rock collectors has been a gossip of an ‘unreleased Roxus album’, but truth is that thing never existed.
However, there’s some unreleased material from leader Juno ROXAS, compiled by plotn08under the title ‘The Paris Sessions & More”.

In 2010 vocalist Juno Roxas announced a series of shows in Melbourne and other Australian cities performing the band’s classics and some songs written back in a day but never presented to the fans. So there’s not an ‘unreleased album’, but a bunch of great songs never heard / published before: “The Paris Sessions”.
The title does not refer to the French city, these are demos recorded and produced under the supervision of AOR icon Jeff Paris tracked down in America at the beginning of the ’90s, where Juno Roxas moved later to pursue a songwriter career.

Some of these tracks surfaced some time ago amongst collectors and fan websites, but I assure you not with this audio quality.
Take as example the great Melodic Rocker “Love Me, Do Me” with a really Americanized sound, which somehow reminds me Damn Yankees. Or the re-worked long version of Roxus’ “Body Heat” (a winner) with the ‘Jeff Paris treatment’.

Another rarity is the original demo of the band’s biggest hit “Where Are You Now”, featuring Robin Randall (Mark Free, Venus & Mars) and Steve Hopkins (Mark Free) on keyboards, while James Christian (House Of Lords) and the superb Diana Dewitt (Venus & Mars) did backing vocals. This version is far superior than the finally appeared in Roxus’ album / single.

And we have more from the Paris Sessions: killer rocking, melodic unreleased tunes such as “What You Don’t Know”, “Stop Playing With My Heart” or “Invisible Man”.
To make it more juicy, we have here more rarities; the hard to find Roxus original ’89 single version of “Stand Back” (Australia release only), the b-side “Borderline”, unreleased live versions of “Bad Boys” and “All Right Now” (Free cover) which I believe were recorded at MTV studios, and even a Juno Roxas’ performance from the 1987 movie ‘Mull’ (never released soundtrack).

‘The Paris Sessions & More” is a private, rare compilation of superb Melodic Rock / AOR unreleased material, not only a collectible but a highly enjoyable collection of songs with that unbeatable late ’80s / early ’90s magic.

01 - Love Me, Do Me (Jeff Paris session demo)
02 - What You Don't Know (Jeff Paris session demo)
03 - Invisible Man (Jeff Paris session demo)
04 - Body Heat [long version] (Jeff Paris session demo)
05 - Stop Playing With My Heart (J. Paris session demo)
06 - All The Way (Jeff Paris session demo)
07 - Don't Stop (Jeff Paris session demo)
08 - Where Are You Now (original demo ft. J. Christian)
09 - Borderline (Where Are You Now b-side)
10 - Stand Back (Aussie original '89 single version)
11 - Spaghetti Wire (unknown session)
12 - Body Heat (unknown session)
13 - Bad Boys (Live - unreleased)
14 - All Right Now (Live - unreleased)
15 - Juno Roxas Hold On (from the 1987 movie Mull)

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