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XYZ
Forbidden Demos 1985 / 1991
Fyco Records
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After our horrible review on the last XYZ release, "Letter To
God", I was surprised to see "Forbidden Demos 1985 / 1991"
arrive on our doorstep. Talk about a 180 degree turn in
reviews! Here, we find an inside out look into one of the
musically more interesting bands of the late 1980's and early
1990's in regards to melodic hard rock / metal. XYZ had a
certain breezy feel to their songs that made them quite
listenable and easy to play for a mix crowd. "Can't Get
Over You", an unreleased track, is an excellent example of this
style.
The demo version of XYZ's most well known song "Inside Out" is
an interesting listen seeing how the song evolved.
Removing the extra vocals during the choruses proved to be a
wise move in hindsight. "High Life" puzzles me in how the
hell did it not make their debut release. It is strong
single material circa 1988, instantly catchy and stands well
against any song on the first CD.
"After The Rain" and "Souvenirs" both would have had the ladies
flicking their lighters and swaying to the music.
"Souvenirs" in particular would work well for any fan of
Warrant's power ballads.
"Made For Love" from 1986 is a hard rocker that features some
excellent vocal harmonies and shows the talent of Terry
Ilous. "It Could Be You" has a definite Dokken vibe
through it especially the guitar riffs and solos.
"Seventeen" is not a Winger cover and sounds more like a Steve
Plunkett / Autograph penned track. A nod towards Bon
Jovi's 7800 Fahrenheit comes from the track "Sorry" which calls
to mind that long forgotten release as does a later track
"Lonely Without You".
Overall, "Forbidden Demos 1985 / 1991" is a wonderful time
capsule of XYZ's material and shows that not only could they
right infectious rock tracks, but that they certainly had a
flare for the tear jerker ballads as well. The production
and reworkings of certain songs sounds really good and the
release possesses enough continuity that at 18 songs (several of
which repeat) it is still an entertaining disc.
Track Listing:
1. Can't Get Over You (previously unreleased)
2. Inside Out (Demo)
3. High Life
4. Follow the Night
5. You Got Me Wrong (Live)
6. After the Rain (Demo)
7. Souvenirs (Demo)
8. Made For Love
9. It Could Be You
10. Seventeen
11. Sorry
12. Lonely Without You
13. Missin You
14. Rainy Days
15. Lonely Without You
16. Never Too Late
17. Souvenirs
18. High Life
Homepage:
http://www.xyzmusic.com |
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