Today we bring something special to all of you eager for some rare and exclusive material. And we’re talking about good, ’80s influenced Melodic Rock / AOR. “VON HINER – The AOR Demos ; Pre-Production & More” is a collection of songs recorded by the – at the time – young American musician Brian Hiner (later artistic name Bryan Dallas) under the moniker VON HINER, a bunch of bombastic, anthemic stadium melodic rock rockers.
Hiner composes all of the music, perform the vocals, play all instruments and record / produce the whole thing at his own studio. Von Hiner influences are wide and varied, from classic rock to pop to AOR.
But the songs in “The AOR Demos / Pre-Production & More” – which doesn’t sound like cheap demos at all – are mostly AOR / Melodic Rock both in style and sonics. If the mega-overdubbed choruses of Def Leppard’s Hysteria still do it for ya, you’re gonna dig this dude’s music.
Some of the tracks here were later re-recorded by Hine for his “Dallas” album, some of them remain unreleased.
Von Hiner resurrects here the super-slick, catchy anthems of the late ’80s when a zillion Def Leppard clones emerged trying to cop Mutt Lange’s songwriting and production techniques. And indeed the first thing that impress you is the excellent production / sound.
Yeah, there’s a Def Lepp feel in ‘Rip It Up’, the extremely catchy “Open Your Heart” or the power ballad ‘I Close My Eyes’. The influence, both in sound & style are undoubted. But you know? These are darn great songs!
The ridiculously catchy “Bring The Light” and the awesome midtempo “Miles Away” (not a Winger cover) have more AOR waves. Speaking about covers, here’s one: “Transformers” the movie theme recorded with the band Weslester as backing musicians. Pure ’80s stuff.
‘Devil Is Rock ‘N’ Roll’ is straightforward rocker based on crunchy guitars, then ‘Heaven Down’ and ‘Drowning It Out’ are both darker, still plenty of melody.
On ‘Jam’ Von Hiner does some experimentation over a thick guitar riff, some synths and effects, while ‘Rock It Tonight’ mix a fist-in-the-air anthemic rhythm with electronics. ‘Good Vibes’ add some acoustics alongside electronics as well, showcasing Von Hiner’s wide spectrum.
This guy is another proof – we have presented many here at the blog – that with talent and some skills, you can create really well produced songs by your own. Von Hiner also is a talented songwriter, and seems his dad ’80s LP collection made some effect on him.
Most of the songs in this collection are huge pop metal tunes with incredible sound results considering Von Hiner is the only responsible of production duties at his home studio.
01 – Rip It Up (early version)
02 – Bring The Light (early version)
03 – Miles Away (early version)
04 – This Love (early version)
05 – Open Your Heart (early version)
06 – I Close My Eyes (early version)
07 – Transformers (movie cover) [with Weslester]
08 – Heaven Down (early version)
09 – Drowning It Out [Unreleased]
10 – The Devil is Rock ‘n’ Roll (early version)
11 – Jam [Unreleased]
12 – Rock It Tonight [Unreleased]
13 – Good Vibes [Unreleased]
Von Hiner (Bryan Dallas) – vocals, all instruments
VON HINER (Dallas) – The AOR Demos ; Pre-Production & More
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