Richard Marx

Tue
25
Nov

HEART & FRIENDS - Home For The Holidays (Review)

information persons: 
content: 
50%
Produced By: 
Heart
Release Date: 
2014
Released: 
Worldwide
Musical Style: 
Christmas; Live
Label: 
Frontiers
Artist: 
Score: 
50
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Categories: 
Reviews
 
Ah, tis the season for live cash-ins, tralalalala….
Ok, so let’s just state the unchallengeable facts right up front – Nancy Wilson is an amazing guitarist, Ann Wilson has the voice of an angel, untouched by the years and Heart have recorded some truly iconic music over the years. Most of which I love!
They really are a force to be reckoned with and credit to them for still kicking in 2014.
 
But, to be frank, there isn’t a number low enough to rate my interest in a Heart Christmas release. Even one with “friends”…
 
After their last couple of albums have failed to interest me, this is like a nail through the head.
So if I haven’t offended those last remaining Heart fans out there enough, I will go on and state that the festive songs included here are dreadfully dull unless you are really in the mood for a mellow early Christmas celebration.
 
This ultra-laid back event can’t even be rescued by the normally reliable Richard Marx or the always likeable Sammy Hagar. Hagar’s Santa's Going South is hokey hillbilly at its worst.
What I can say positively about this release is that it is beautifully filmed and recorded – the audio and video are exquisitely captured, it sounds and looks a million bucks. Just a shame about the songs.
 

Not sure who to recommend this too. No doubt it will sell more than most cult releases I review on here, but that thought just makes me sad.
The score is more reflective of a need to recognize the audio and visual quality of the release rather than the actual content.
 
Mon
13
Oct

HEART Issue Seasonal Live CD/DVD November 7 via Frontiers

Artist: 
Friday, November 7, 2014
Categories: 
News Feed
HEART’S “HEART & FRIENDS: HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS”
OUT IN NOVEMBER ON FRONTIERS
 
SAMMY HAGAR, PAT MONAHAN, SHAWN COLVIN AND RICHARD MARX
JOIN HEART FOR ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME COLLABORATIONS
 
 
 
HEART’s “Heart & Friends – Home for the Holidays” will be released as CD/DVD, Blu Ray and digital download on November 7 in Europe and November 10 in North America, it was announced today by Frontiers Music SRL.
 
Last December, HEART’s Ann and Nancy Wilson returned to their hometown of Seattle to stage a celebration of the season, gathering a few of their friends to join them in singing holiday classics, personal favorites and some of their own hits. Special guests Shawn Colvin, Sammy Hagar, Richard Marx and Pat Monahan from Train joined HEART for this unique concert which was taped on December 12th 2013 at the Benaroya Symphony Concert Hall in Seattle. The Wilson sisters performed an array of holiday songs originally written by Joni Mitchell, Harry Nilsson, Bob Dylan and Sammy Hagar in their Christmas set as well as some of HEART’s favorite songs. Colvin, Hagar, Marx and Monahan provided additional vocals on the tunes and/or sing duets with HEART.
 
“We had a great time putting on this show with special friends for the holidays. Warm moments and great music from all... and some saucy little elves too,” said Ann Wilson. “We have always held the holidays up as a wonderful whimsical time of year and celebrating it in our beloved home town with friends, songs and family was extremely magical,” added Nancy Wilson.
 
“Heart & Friends: Home For The Holidays” ended a prolific and award-winning year in 2013 for HEART, who have been enjoying a resurgence of popularity since 2010′s “Red Velvet Car”, which became the group’s first Top 10 album in 20 years. Many successful live shows and tours (including a 2011 tour with Def Leppard, and their 2013 “Heartbreaker” tour) have occurred with 2012 seeing the release of “Strange Euphoria”, a definitive career-spanning box set; the arrival of “Kicking and Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock and Roll”, a best-selling autobiography; the announcement of Ann and Nancy Wilson’s HEART star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the release of Fanatic, HEART’s 14th studio album.
 
Earlier this year, HEART released “Fanatic Live From Caesars Colosseum” on Frontiers Music SRL.  In addition to their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame HEART was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last April.
 
PRE-ORDER LINKS:
 
 
CD audio track listing will include:
The River; Seasons, Rocking (feat. Shawn Colvin), Love Come Down at Christmas, POEM, All through the Night (feat. Richard Marx), All we need is an Island (feat. Sammy Hagar), Santa's Going South (feat. Sammy Hagar), Please Come Home for Christmas (feat. Pat Monahan), Remember Christmas, Barracuda, Even it Up, Stairway to Heaven and Ring Them Bells.
 
DVD / Blu Ray track listing will include:
The River; Seasons, Rocking (feat. Shawn Colvin), Love Come Down at Christmas, POEM, All through the Night (feat. Richard Marx), All we need is an Island (feat. Sammy Hagar), Santa's Going South (feat. Sammy Hagar), Please Come Home for Christmas (feat. Pat Monahan), Remember Christmas; Barracuda; Stairway to Heaven and Ring Them Bells.
 
Weblinks:
 
twitter.com/officialheart

 

 
Fri
08
Aug

RICHARD MARX - Beautiful Goodbye (Review)

information persons: 
section name: 
TRACK LISTING
content: 
1."Whatever We Started"
2."Suddenly"
3."Inside"
4."Beautiful Goodbye"
5."Forgot To Remember"
6."Turn Off The Night"
7."Have A Little Faith"
8."Like The World Is Ending"
9."To My Senses”
10."Getaway"
11."Eyes On Me" 
section name: 
SCORE
content: 

 

55%
Produced By: 
Richard Marx
Running Time: 
47
Release Date: 
2014
Released: 
Worldwide
Musical Style: 
Pop
Artist: 
Score: 
55
Friday, August 8, 2014
Categories: 
Reviews
Richard Marx has hardly put a foot wrong throughout his long career. A career longer than any modern day singer/songwriter is ever likely to have I might add.
Even as he matured and moved out of the spotlight, his records have continued to impress. The most recent of which, Emotional Remains and Sundown, were brilliant. Few people capture real emotion like Marx does.
The compilation Inside My Head showcased the best of those records with a second disc of re-recorded hits. More brilliance.
 
So with those high standards set, you will understand why I’m so disappointed in Richard’s new studio release. His first all-new set of songs since 2008 was preceded by the lead single Whatever We Started – itself an instantly catchy sultry ballad of the highest quality.
But the song signaled a shift in style to programmed beats and synth driven music. And when it was discovered that the ballad was also the album’s opening track, it wasn’t a good sign for the overall tempo of a record. You don’t open an uptempo album with a ballad right?
 
And those fears were confirmed on my first run through of Beautiful Goodbye. What we have here is 11 tracks that are all very soft, very slow and largely driven by synth programming.
Marx shows his age as he croons through one ballad after another as the tempo barely makes it out of first gear throughout.
There are some fine songs of course, but most of the best songs are lost in the lack of tempo through the album.
 
Inside, Beautiful Goodbye, Turn Off The Night and the tear jerker Turn Off The Night are all fine songs, but overall are simply lost in a sea of similar ballads.
The heavily programmed Forgot To Remember is one instance of a song making it into second gear (co-written with sometime gigging/writing partner Matt Scannell of VerticalHorizon).
The country twang of the big ballad Like The World Is Ending is the most painful to listen to – the falsetto is earsplitting and Eyes On Me is so unbelievably slow that listening to this while driving is strongly discouraged.
 
Sorry Richard, 6 years for an album of ballads and slow tempo synth pop? Count me as really disappointed. While some of the elder statesmen of rock have only improved with age (Rick Springfield for example), Richard has missed a big opportunity here to continue the excellent work laid out on past albums. I will return to those post haste.
 
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