Requested by many of you at max quality, here’s a mandatory album in your collection: New Yorkers’ URGENT 1985’s debut album “Cast The First Stone“. Their second and final album Thinking Out Loud was remastered as part of the AOR Heaven Classix series , and while this “Cast The First Stone” is not remastered, it’s the only CD version available of this classic AOR album, re-printed some time ago in Germany.
Formed by brothers Michael (vocals, guitar), Don (vocals, keyboards) and Steve Kehr (drums), and rounded out by Miami native Yul Vazquez (lead guitar and future Diving For Pearls members) and Kylph Black (bass), Urgent rose from the East Coast in the mid-1980s.
Initially looked at by Epic Records, the band wound up signing with newly formed EMI subsidiary Manhattan Records and turned to British rock legends Ian Hunter and Mick Ronson for the production of their debut album “Cast The First Stone”.
Released in 1985 – what a year – “Cast The First Stone” packs all ‘that’ mid-Eighties magic mixed with first half of the ’80s Pomp: wonderful melodies layers of keyboards and great choruses.
While the album only produced a minor success with the single “Running Back”, peaking at #79 on the Billboard Hot 100, oh man, what killer tune; keyboard driven AOR of the highest order, and one of the greatest in the genre’s history.
A second single off the album, the ballad “Love Can Make You Cry”, was also featured on the successful Iron Eagle soundtrack album. Then you have the fantastic “Say Goodbye”, akin Loverboy and again driven by terrific synths and a great rhythm guitar, plus soaring vocals.
Title track ‘Cast The First Stone’ is another winner full of energy, while for a full dosage of Pomp just check out the pulsating ‘Love Him Or Leave Him’, and for more ‘action AOR’ ‘So this is Paradise’ will raise your fist in the air.
Urgent’s “Cast The First Stone” is a must in your ’80s AOR / Melodic Rock collection. This CD reissue includes as bonus a different version of the awesome song Running Back (Running Back #2), which is in fact the original LP / album version. The one listed here as track 1 is the single version, remixed, and quite different.
A MUST HAVE
Tracklist:
01. Pain (Love Is A Victim) (4:22)
02. Shot In The Dark (3:51)
03. I Can't Take It No More (3:45)
04. If This Is Love (4:50)
05. Always Be There (3:29)
06. Running Back (4:21)
07. Extra Extra (3:45)
08. Turning The Knife (4:45)
09. Give'em Enough Rope (3:43)
10. Inch By Inch (4:24)
11. All Over The World (4:41)
Urgent – Thinking Out Loud – 1987 (2022 Japan Edition), FLAC+MP3, CD-Rip w/ Scans
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