{"id":50370,"date":"2015-10-04T09:45:46","date_gmt":"2015-10-04T14:45:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=50370"},"modified":"2015-10-04T09:45:46","modified_gmt":"2015-10-04T14:45:46","slug":"street-talk-transition-restoration-v-reissues-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2015\/street-talk-transition-restoration-v-reissues-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Street Talk | Transition, Restoration, V<\/em> \u2013 Reissues"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"StreetIt\u2019s 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. \u201cSmooth\u201d doesn\u2019t 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<\/em>, Restoration<\/em> and V<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Originally released in 2000, Transition<\/em> was the second Street Talk release. It\u2019s 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<\/em> is pretty light on the rock elements though, so be prepared for lots of sappy love songs. MelodicRock\u2019s reissue of Transition<\/em> features new cover artwork, the Japanese bonus track \u201cI\u2019ll Always Remember You\u201d and six additional bonus demo tracks. The demos aren\u2019t exactly essential, but it\u2019s really nice having the Japanese bonus track.<\/p>\n

\"Street2002\u2019s Restoration<\/em> was the band\u2019s third release, and may be their best overall album. Street Talk took everything that worked on Transition<\/em> 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\u2019s a bit more punch on this album, though it\u2019s still as smooth as AOR gets. And the sillier lyrical elements have been dialed back a bit on Restoration<\/em>. MelodicRock\u2019s reissue of Restoration<\/em> features new cover artwork, the Japanese bonus track \u201cAfter the Tears\u201d and eight additional bonus demo, rough mix and instrumental tracks. Again, it\u2019s the Japanese bonus track that\u2019s the real highlight of the bonus material.<\/p>\n

\"Street2006\u2019s V<\/em> is (you guessed it) the fifth Street Talk release, and if it ends up being their final offering it\u2019s 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 \u201880s AOR framework either. It has a strong Stage Dolls vibe, which is not a bad thing at all. MelodicRock\u2019s reissue of V<\/em> features new cover artwork, remixes of the new tracks \u201cAstray and Made for Paradise\u201d from the Destination<\/em> collection, and four bonus instrumental tracks. Adding the Destination<\/em> songs was an especially nice touch.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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\u2019s near-extinct 1997 debut Collaboration<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Genre: AOR<\/p>\n

Band:
\nGoran Edman (v)
\nHugo (v) (Restoration only)
\nFredrik Bergh (k) (v)
\nSven Larsson (g)
\nMikael Berner (b) (Transition only)
\nBjorn Lodmark (b)
\nChristian Johansson (d)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:<\/p>\n

Transition<\/em>
\n1.\tSomeday (I\u2019ll Get Over You)
\n2.\tNeed Someone
\n3.\tIf Anybody Breaks Your Heart
\n4.\tLet Me Be the One
\n5.\tAlways Stand By You
\n6.\tYe Gods and Little Fishes
\n7.\tEverything I Do is Just For You
\n8.\tEnergizer Bunny
\n9.\tDon\u2019t Give Up on This Love
\n10.\tWhen You Lose the One You Love
\n11.\tI\u2019ll Always Remember You
\n12.\tAlways Stand By You (demo)
\n13.\tSomeday (demo)
\n14.\tAnytime, Anywhere (demo)
\n15.\tI Will Be There (demo)
\n16.\tDon\u2019t Give Up on This Love (demo)
\n17.\tLet Me Be the One (demo)<\/p>\n

Restoration<\/em>
\n1.\tGive Me a Reason
\n2.\tHare and Hounds
\n3.\tLanguage of Love
\n4.\tTables Turning
\n5.\tDancer in the Rain
\n6.\tA Place in the Sun
\n7.\tMy Heart Beats For You
\n8.\tForever By Your Side
\n9.\tIn the Arms of Love
\n10.\tWhy Is My Heart Feeling Lonely Tonight
\n11.\tAfter the Tears
\n12.\tWhy Is My Heart Feeling Lonely Tonight (demo)
\n13.\tForever By Your Side (demo)
\n14.\tTill the End of Time (demo)
\n15.\tLanguage of Love (rough mix)
\n16.\tDancer in the Rain (rough mix)
\n17.\tTables Turning (rough mix)
\n18.\tA Place in the Sun (instrumental)
\n19.\tWhy Is My Heart Feeling Lonely Tonight (instrumental)<\/p>\n

V<\/em>
\n1.\tResponsible
\n2.\tDon\u2019t Believe
\n3.\tIf I Could
\n4.\tAt the End of the Day
\n5.\tFamily Business
\n6.\tJust a Little Appetizer
\n7.\tSomething\u2019s Gotta Give
\n8.\tGroundhog Day
\n9.\tSniper
\n10.\tOh Maddie
\n11.\tBrother Sun and Sister Moon
\n12.\tAstray (remix)
\n13.\tMade For Paradise (remix)
\n14.\tFamily Business (instrumental)
\n15.\tResponsible (instrumental)
\n16.\tIf I Could (instrumental)
\n17.\tOh Maddie (instrumental)<\/p>\n

Label: MelodicRock Records<\/p>\n

Website: www.facebook.com\/sttalk<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven Rating:
\nTransition<\/em>: 8\/10
\nRestoration<\/em>: 8.5\/10
\nV<\/em>: 8.25\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines – Senior Columnist — It\u2019s 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 […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":50375,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12394],"tags":[8939,2317,1605,9460,4432,11716,11714,11715,8796],"class_list":{"0":"post-50370","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2015","8":"tag-aor","9":"tag-cd-review","10":"tag-goran-edman","11":"tag-melodic-rock-records","12":"tag-reissues","13":"tag-restoration","14":"tag-street-talk","15":"tag-transition","16":"tag-v"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50370","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=50370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}