{"id":45276,"date":"2014-09-26T21:07:55","date_gmt":"2014-09-27T02:07:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=45276"},"modified":"2014-09-26T21:07:55","modified_gmt":"2014-09-27T02:07:55","slug":"idle-tears-reissue-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/idle-tears-reissue-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Idle Tears | Idle Tears (re-issue)<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"IdleTears\"How many bands from the \u201880s were thought of as promising or attention-grabbers back in the day, only to fall into obscurity and be lost in the midst of time as soon as the decade ended? A countless number, perhaps, as one can count on their fingers each of those that survived up to 2014. Some of those now-obscure acts have managed to leave the trace of their tenure on stage, however, and these out-of-print, rare albums are wildly desired by every record collector now. One of these classic rarities is Idle Tears, a 1986 self-titled album by the female-fronted AOR group that originated from Chicago, USA but moved to L.A. following their record deal with MCA Records. The band members went their separate ways soon after the release of it and if you look at the Idle Tears\u2019 line-up, some names should definitely ring a bell \u2013 but apart from them resurfacing elsewhere, this year it\u2019s Idle Tears all AOR fans will be chatting about, discussing their newly re-issued debut album. Yes, you\u2019ve just read it right \u2013 Idle Tears has just been re-mastered and re-issued via Munich-based record label Yesterrock in co-operation with Erik Scott, Idle Tears\u2019 bassist back in the day.<\/p>\n

An intro to the album is \u201cStar Spangled Banner\u201d on guitar\u2026 or rather, much distorted, out-of-tune version of the national anthem of the U.S. \u2013 the effect that turns out to be deliberate as the female laughter (of the lead singer Liz Constantine) resonates. That\u2019s how the first track \u201cFingers on the Pulse of America\u201d starts \u2013 a fine piece of feisty AOR, led by a groovy guitar riff and Constantine\u2019s sensual Lita-Ford-meets-Patti-Smyth vocals. Next are \u201cTake Me Home\u201d a slow-ish song driven by the omnipresent synth, and a neat, charming ballad entitled \u201cOh No\u201d. While there\u2019s nothing degrading to be said about either of these songs, it\u2019s perhaps the slightly more uptempo repertoire Idle Tears were better at. Hence, its killer hooks of \u201cUntil You\u2019re Down\u201d or the captivating, synth-laden groove of \u201cF.B.I\u201d that is the album\u2019s highlights rather than the slower tracks. <\/p>\n

What else can be found on the album? A minute-and-a-half long interlude entitled \u201cHysterical Broads In Space\u201d, featuring some wacky instrumental improvisations, the organic, \u201ctribal\u201d charm of \u201cParadise\u201d and melodic-to-the-utmost \u201cLove In The Dark\u201d, another strong song among the entire number of nine that have made it to Idle Tears. The album finishes with a soaring, melancholic ballad \u201cHeroes Never Cry\u201d that brings to mind the grandiose ballad moments of female-fronted rock and slow-ish classics of Heart or Lita Ford.<\/p>\n

For those not familiar with Idle Tears, this year\u2019s re-issue of the group\u2019s one and only release is a great opportunity to take a look into their repertoire. Especially that band members resurfaced in many notable rock bands later on \u2013 from Mark Free-fronted Signal to industrial metal act Ministry. And if they happen to be die-hard AOR aficionados, fond of the female-fronted minority of the genre, it\u2019s certain they will enjoy the self-titled effort of Liz Constantine and the boys. The fact of Idle Tears being re-issued is also splendid news for the restless record collectors who sought after the album for decades but were never able to include this rarity in their meticulously gleaned collections. Either way, Idle Tears\u2019 debut album is definitely the one worth of being unearthed and given a new lease of life into, as its pure \u201880s female-fronted AOR at its best. Recommended.<\/p>\n

Genre: AOR, Melodic Rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nLiz Constantine – vocals
\nDan Pritzker – guitars
\nDavid Resnik – guitars
\nErik Scott – bass
\nGregg Rich – keyboards
\nTom Crowley – vocals, percussion<\/p>\n

Additional musicians:
\nCraig Krampf – drums
\nSteve Ferrone – drums
\nRandy Jackson – bass<\/p>\n

Track List:
\n1.\tFingers On The Pulse Of America
\n2.\tTake Me Home
\n3.\tOh No
\n4.\tHysterical Broads In Space
\n5.\tParadise
\n6.\tUntil You\u2019re Down
\n7.\tLove In The Dark
\n8.\tF.B.I
\n9.\tHeroes Never Cry<\/p>\n

Label: Yesterrock, Alive<\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 7\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska – Senior Columnist — How many bands from the \u201880s were thought of as promising or attention-grabbers back in the day, only to fall into obscurity and be lost in the midst […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":45288,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[10039,8939,2317,10036,10035,2901,9094,10037,10038],"class_list":{"0":"post-45276","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-alive","9":"tag-aor","10":"tag-cd-review","11":"tag-idle","12":"tag-idle-tears","13":"tag-melodic-rock","14":"tag-re-issue","15":"tag-tears","16":"tag-yesterrock"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}