Alias Never Say Never

Tweet

by Joe Mis
Staff Writer

Nineteen years is a LONG time between releases, but that’s how long it took for Alias to roll their second album out the door. Appropriately entitled Never Say Never, this album is good enough that one could almost say it was worth the wait.

Originally formed in 1990 by former members of Heart and Sheriff, Alias released their gold and platinum selling self-titled debut to great reviews and enthusiastic fan support. Unfortunately for Alias, the album was released at the start of the “grunge era” and a time of change and turmoil in the music industry. The band did hit the studio in 1992 and recorded Never Say Never, but as guitarist Steve DeMarchi said in EMI’s and Angelmik’s press release: “Unfortunately for us and many other rock bands at the time, the Grunge scene exploded and had taken over… Even though the first Alias album was successful… the climate of music had changed almost overnight… Grunge was in… Rock was out.” Never Say Never sat in the can, waiting. A few of the songs were re-recorded for Alias vocalist Freddy Curci’s solo album, but most of them were buried.

Since “retro” is in nowadays, Alias, EMI and Angelmilk decided to follow the trend and open up the vault. They dug out the original master tapes and EMI went to work doing a commendable job and putting out a crisp and fresh sounding album. The lineup for Never Say Never: Freddy Curci (vocals), Steve DeMarchi (guitar), Marco Mendoza (bass), Larry Aberman (drums), Robert O’Hearn and Denny DeMarchi (both on keyboards).

The CD opens with “Woman Enough”, a high-energy track driven mostly by vocals. “XTCOI”, a great bass and drum powered “arena rocker” (as are many of the songs on the album) keeps the upbeat energy going and leads into the highlight of the record, “How Much Longer Is Forever”. The band really gets to show off here – solid vocals, good lyrics and songwriting, kicky guitar riff – top-notch musicianship all around. “Give Me A Reason To Stay” is a pleasant acoustic/orchestral song, not quite the traditional power-ballad but it does break up the tempo of the album.

“Wild Wild One” is another good arena rocker with a bouncy bass line that carries it through somewhat dated lyrics. “Pleasure And Pain” is a lyrically sappy song, but again the good musicianship makes it a decent tune. Alias then goes for a bluesy sound with “The Warden” (great guitar work here) and “Bare Necessity”, and it works well.

“All I Want Is You” and “Call Of The Wild” are more conventional rockers, and “Diamonds” is the very well done power-ballad. “Play Me A Song” and “We Want It All” would be great big arena openers, but for some reason are the last two official songs of the album. Bonus tracks include “Perfect World,” “Into The Fire,” “Who Do You Think You Are” (better than most of the “non-bonus” tracks) and “Call Me.”

There aren’t many negatives here. Yes, the lyrics are sometimes cheesy and the music occasionally sounds dated, but the songs were recorded in 1992 when cheese was king. Musically, the bass and drums are solid but unspectacular. DeMarchi’s electric and acoustic guitar work is well done across the whole album, although no one track stands out as a guitar showpiece. The keyboards are present often but don’t dominate the rest of the band. Curci’s voice is in great form, and his only vocal weakness is the tendency to lose crispness and clarity when he pushes the very top of his range.

Never Say Never is quite a good album. If it was recorded a year earlier these guys could have been huge. Fans of Def Leppard, Journey, or other big arena rock bands should enjoy most of these tracks. It’s a treat to hear unknown “arena rock” instead of all of the old tunes rehashed.

Label: Angelmilk Records

Web: http://angelmilkrecords.co.uk/
http://www.emimusic.ca/
http://www.myspace.com/theofficialalias

Track Listing:
01. Woman Enough
02. XTCOI
03. How Much Longer Is Forever
04. Give Me A Reason To Stay
05. Wild Wild One
06. Pleasure And Pain
07. The Warden
08. Bare Necessity
09. All I Want Is You
10. Call Of The Wild
11. Diamonds
12. Play Me A Song
13. We Want It All
Bonus tracks …
14. Perfect World
15. Into The Fire
16. Who Do You Think You Are
17. Call Me

HRH Rating: 8/10