Street Talk | Transition, Restoration, V – Reissues

by Justin Gaines
– Senior Columnist —

It’s been nearly a decade since we last heard from Street Talk, the Swedish AOR band featuring Goran Edman (ex-Yngwie Malmsteen, ex-Brazen Abbott). Street Talk was arguably the best band in the modern era at crafting pure, Toto-inspired AOR songs. “Smooth” doesn’t even come close. Street Talk has been largely inactive since 2006, but they have resurfaced in a way with three deluxe reissues of their earlier, out of print albums: Transition, Restoration and V.

Originally released in 2000, Transition was the second Street Talk release. It’s an album that really defines the Street Talk sound, and one that showcases just how versatile a singer Goran Edman really is. For a Metal vocalist, he sounds like he was born to sing straight-up AOR. Backed by sublime melodies and impeccable production, Edman really shines here. Transition is pretty light on the rock elements though, so be prepared for lots of sappy love songs. MelodicRock’s reissue of Transition features new cover artwork, the Japanese bonus track “I’ll Always Remember You” and six additional bonus demo tracks. The demos aren’t exactly essential, but it’s really nice having the Japanese bonus track.

2002’s Restoration was the band’s third release, and may be their best overall album. Street Talk took everything that worked on Transition and made it that much better here. Edman sounds perfect as expected, and even gets an assist on two tracks by former Valentine/Open Skyz singer Hugo. There’s a bit more punch on this album, though it’s still as smooth as AOR gets. And the sillier lyrical elements have been dialed back a bit on Restoration. MelodicRock’s reissue of Restoration features new cover artwork, the Japanese bonus track “After the Tears” and eight additional bonus demo, rough mix and instrumental tracks. Again, it’s the Japanese bonus track that’s the real highlight of the bonus material.

2006’s V is (you guessed it) the fifth Street Talk release, and if it ends up being their final offering it’s not a bad way to say goodbye. V just sounds more mature and more electric than anything else Street Talk had done at that point. Not quite modern, but not so dependent on the ‘80s AOR framework either. It has a strong Stage Dolls vibe, which is not a bad thing at all. MelodicRock’s reissue of V features new cover artwork, remixes of the new tracks “Astray and Made for Paradise” from the Destination collection, and four bonus instrumental tracks. Adding the Destination songs was an especially nice touch.

All three are very nicely put together reissues. Between the overall sound quality (it sounds like the albums have been cleaned up a bit, if not totally remastered), extra tracks and the new cover artwork, there’s enough here to make these worthwhile upgrades for those who already own the earlier pressings. And it goes without saying that this is an ideal way for those who missed the band the first time around to discover one of the best bands in modern AOR and the predecessor to bands like Houston and Work of Art. Act fast though, as these are limited to 500 copies each. Maybe someday the label will give us a reissue of Street Talk’s near-extinct 1997 debut Collaboration.

Genre: AOR

Band:
Goran Edman (v)
Hugo (v) (Restoration only)
Fredrik Bergh (k) (v)
Sven Larsson (g)
Mikael Berner (b) (Transition only)
Bjorn Lodmark (b)
Christian Johansson (d)

Track Listing:

Transition
1. Someday (I’ll Get Over You)
2. Need Someone
3. If Anybody Breaks Your Heart
4. Let Me Be the One
5. Always Stand By You
6. Ye Gods and Little Fishes
7. Everything I Do is Just For You
8. Energizer Bunny
9. Don’t Give Up on This Love
10. When You Lose the One You Love
11. I’ll Always Remember You
12. Always Stand By You (demo)
13. Someday (demo)
14. Anytime, Anywhere (demo)
15. I Will Be There (demo)
16. Don’t Give Up on This Love (demo)
17. Let Me Be the One (demo)

Restoration
1. Give Me a Reason
2. Hare and Hounds
3. Language of Love
4. Tables Turning
5. Dancer in the Rain
6. A Place in the Sun
7. My Heart Beats For You
8. Forever By Your Side
9. In the Arms of Love
10. Why Is My Heart Feeling Lonely Tonight
11. After the Tears
12. Why Is My Heart Feeling Lonely Tonight (demo)
13. Forever By Your Side (demo)
14. Till the End of Time (demo)
15. Language of Love (rough mix)
16. Dancer in the Rain (rough mix)
17. Tables Turning (rough mix)
18. A Place in the Sun (instrumental)
19. Why Is My Heart Feeling Lonely Tonight (instrumental)

V
1. Responsible
2. Don’t Believe
3. If I Could
4. At the End of the Day
5. Family Business
6. Just a Little Appetizer
7. Something’s Gotta Give
8. Groundhog Day
9. Sniper
10. Oh Maddie
11. Brother Sun and Sister Moon
12. Astray (remix)
13. Made For Paradise (remix)
14. Family Business (instrumental)
15. Responsible (instrumental)
16. If I Could (instrumental)
17. Oh Maddie (instrumental)