WALK THE WIRE – Walk The Wire [Yesterrock remaster +3 bonus] 2010

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As requested, here’s WALK THE WIRE self-titled album, one of these little gems that deserves a towering place in your collection. Through the years, their sole album “Walk The Wire” became a hard to find collectors item, but fortunately YesterRock Records rescued this true blast of British AOR, reissued including 3 bonus tracks and with an amazing remastered sound.

Previously known as Frozen Heart, the band recorded a promising set of demos in the early Nineties, but this type of keyboard-driven Melodic Rock / AOR was in decline interest for record labels at the time.
However Swedish label Megarock picked up the band impressed by their quality, and with the group changing the name to Walk The Wire accorded the debut release.
As you can read in the booklet liner notes, the album was ‘recorded in 11 days of total madness’. Well, I suspect a madness of fun, as in terms of production the result was top notch.

The album starts with the keyboard / synth heaven of ‘Quadrature’ an instrumental piece which precedes the grandiose AOR number ‘Remember’.
Damn, this may have been recorded in the Nineties, but sounds like the best ’80s AOR you could get; sharp guitars, pumping bass lines, soaring vocals, a monster chorus and keys to die for.

More majestic tunes appear with the awesome ‘Nothing To Lose’, the catchy ‘On The Run’, ‘Storm Warning’, the sing-along ‘Stand Up And Fight’ or the pompy ‘Crossfire’.
Of course an album of this kind needs a ballad, and we have two, both stupendous: midtempo ‘The Knives Are Out Tonight’ and the sublime ‘Running From y Heart’.

The YesterRock team asked keyboard player Nigel Hobbs if there were any previously unreleased songs that could be added as a bonus to this reissue and Hobbs took this opportunity to remaster three old tracks: ‘Shoot It To The Top’, ‘Party Girl’ and ‘Armed And Ready’.
Although the sound is a little different than the main album, they certainly form a nice surplus especially ‘Party Girl’ plenty of sparkling keys, a characteristic of Walk The Wire and pure British AOR.

For years a collectors piece, this remastered reissue of ‘Walk The Wire’ turns this CD a mandatory purchase.
In the vein of early FM, Atlantic, Change Of Heart, Strangeways, etc and packed with terrific songs in the best UK AOR tradition, this is a true shining diamond.
A MUST HAVE

01. Quadrature
02. Remember
03. Nothing to Lose
04. On The Run
05. The Knives Are Out Tonight
06. Stand Up And Fight
07. Storm Warning
08. Hold On To Your Dreams
09. Running From My Heart
10. Crossfire
BONUS TRACKS:
11. Shout It To The Top
12. Party Girl
13. Armed And Ready

Paul Watkins – vocals
Andy Webb – guitars
Nigel Hobbs – keyboards
Mike Barker – bass
Phillip Wilson – drums

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