Description
BRIGHTON ROCK: Take a Deep Breath LP PROMO
Note that:
this promotional copy includes an extra 7″” single and lots of promotional materials like press release, newspapers cuttings, official glossy photo, etc.
1.Can’t Stop The Earth From Shaking (Greg Fraser & Gerald McGhee) 4:27
2. Outlaw (Greg Fraser & Gerald McGhee) 4:53
3. Hangin’ High ‘n’ Dry (Greg Fraser, Gerald McGhee & Johnny Rogers) 5:53
4. One More Try (Gerald McGhee & Johnny Rogers) 3:51
5. Ride The Rainbow (Greg Fraser & Gerald McGhee) 4:17
6. Rebels With A Cause (Greg Fraser, Gerald McGhee) 4:18
7. Power Overload (Greg Fraser, Gerald McGhee & Greg Boileau) 4:16
8. Who’s Foolin’ Who (Greg Fraser & Gerald McGhee) 4:16
9. Love Slips Away (Greg Fraser & Gerald McGhee) 4:10
10. Shootin’ For Love (Greg Fraser & Gerald McGhee) 3:59
11. Unleash The Rage (Greg Fraser & Gerald McGhee) 5:14
Length 48:36
Brighton Rock – Unleash the rage (1988 LP)
Produced By Jack Richardson
Recorded and Mixed by Andrew Scarth
WEA 1988
Take a Deep Breath is the second full length album by Canadian glam metal band, Brighton Rock. The album was released in 1988. Take a Deep Breath is Brighton Rock’s most commercially successful album, peaking at #22 on the Canadian album chart. The album was also certified Gold by the CRIA. Take a Deep Breath in 1988 sold 70,000 copies in Canada.
Band members:
Gerry McGhee – Vocals [On Tuesday August 25 2020 Gerry was sadly taken from us]
Greg Fraser – Guitar
Steve Skreebs – Bass guitar
Johnny Rogers – Keyboards
Mark Cavarzan – Drums
CHARTS
Album:
Year Chart Position
1989 Canada #22
Top 50 Cancon Albums of ’89 #11
Singles:
Song – Chart – Highest
“”One More Try”” Canadian Singles Chart #38
“”Hangin’ High ‘n’ Dry”” #77
“”Can’t Stop the Earth from Shakin'”” #65
“”Hangin’ High ‘N’ Dry”” Cancon singles #22
“”One More Try”” Top 25 Cancon Singles of ’89 #16
Exceptional melodic rock fine Canadian act that was bordering on that fine edge of heavy metal. Fronted by Glasgow born Scot Gerry McGhee, his vocals are rather distinct and give the band a rather unique sound. Their debut album ‘Young Wild And Free’ produced by Michael Wagener was a ravenous and raucous album sounded slightly rough and raw. On this one ‘Take A Deep Breath’ we move into territory occupied by the likes of Def Leppard (a la ‘Hysteria’) with an emphasis on power, melody and intelligent structure. Veteran producer Jack Richardson does production duties this time around and he does a great job. There are some incredible tracks on offer. ‘Outlaw’, ‘Hangin’ High And Dry’, ‘Ride The Rainbow’, the wickedly heavy and entertaining ‘Power Overload’ as well as the sonic attack of ‘Shooting For Love’. My favourite would have to be ‘Who’s Foolin’ Who’ which has a great combination of keyboard layers and high octane vocals from McGhee. At the time, the album got a great reception in the press, especially in the UK where they were welcomed like long lost souls, and were also able to convince the very fickle UK rock fan that Canadian bands can indeed rock big time! This LP will sit very close to the turntable and will be useful whenever you need a sonic blast for relief! Great stuff.
Note that:
this promotional copy includes an extra 7″” single and lots of promotional materials like press release, newspapers cuttings, official glossy photo, etc.
Take A Deep Breath is actually an excellent 80’s rock album, with unusual quality. Everything you loved about 80’s rock is here.
Brighton Rock’s sound was different from the crop of hair bands at the time. They always had a classier feel in their commercial rock. Witness, from the first LP, “We Came to Rock”. The synth strings made it different, a little more refined. Johnny Roger’s tasteful keyboard parts have always provided an interesting background texture to their vocal and guitar melodies. Gerald McGhee’s vocals were emotional and he had a powerful range. On this album, he doesn’t scream, but that’s OK. It works out fine with these songs. His voice is strong enough, he didn’t need to show off how high he could go.
Strong songs:
-
- “Can’t Stop The Earth From Shaking” (poppy, catchy and upbeat rocker)
- “Outlaw” (dark and moody, great keyboards providing background texture)
- “Rebels With A Cause” (guitars upfront, a good groove)
- “Power Overload” (another guitar rocker with a great shout-chorus)
- “Who’s Foolin’ Who” (best song on the album, sounds like we have some fretless bass here, a moody dark rocker)
- “Love Slips Away” (dark and moody ballad, second best track here)
- “Unleash The Rage” (the dark, metallic song that sounds more like the rockers on the first album).
As you can tell, dark moods dominate Take A Deep Breath. You could probably tell that by the cover. Hugh Syme (best known for his work with Rush, although he’s also done Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Queensryche, and dozens more) did the picture of the little boy with the gasmask in the post-nuclear landscape. Because of this dark feel, Take A Deep Breath is unlike most of the pop rock records out at the time. Its darkness allows it to stand up to scrutiny today. When Brighton Rock ditched keyboardist Johnny Rogers so they could “heavy it up” for their next album Love Machine, it didn’t work. They lost that special quality and became just another band trying to sound like it was from LA.
Take A Deep Breath was an album for him to be proud of. It was the high point of this band’s discography. Heck, Jack Richardson produced it — the same guy who recorded Universal Juveniles and the better Guess Who albums. There is a level of quality here underneath the keyboards that is audible, even today.
5/5 stars
Also for SALE here:
BRIGHTON ROCK: Can’t Wait For The Night 7″ Canadian single. Check video clips
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