When The Blackbird Sings ...
| When The Blackbird Sings ... | ||||
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| Studio album by Saraya | ||||
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Publication |
May 20, 1991 |
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| Label (s) | PolyGram | |||
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Format (s) |
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Title (number) |
11 |
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running time |
57:32 |
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| occupation |
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When The Blackbird Sings… is the second studio album by the US hard rock band Saraya , released on May 20, 1991 .
background
The group's debut album was released in March 1989 and had reached number 79 on the US album charts . The album received positive reviews and there were "few who did not prophesy a great future for the band". The music was perceived as “significantly more serious and substantial” than the “simple party hard rock” common at the time and compared to “Americanized Whitesnake and Heart ”, the voice of singer Sandi Saraya as a “young mixture of Ann Wilson , Alannah Myles and Pat Benatar ”. Despite this initial success, bassist Gary Taylor soon had to be replaced because he had left the band.
For the recording of the second album took Peter Collins , the production , which is a name recorded for Gary Moore ( After the War and Wild Frontier ), but mainly by working on Operation: Mindcrime and Empire of Queensrÿche had made. He was suggested to the band by music manager Peter Mensch. The sound engineer was Paul Northfield, who had already worked with Collins on Operation: Mindcrime . The band's new bassist was Barry Dunaway, who had previously been a member of Lou Gramm and Yngwie Malmsteen's bands . Guitarist Tony Rey had now adopted the stage name Tony Bruno.
The recordings were made in the Studio in the Country in Washington Parish ( Louisiana ). Tony Bruno wrote nine of the eleven recorded songs together with singer Sandi Saraya, which were much more guitar-oriented than on the debut album. As a result, the keyboards played by Gregg Munier faded into the background, and he found that he could no longer contribute to many of the songs written by Bruno and Saraya. This reduced his contribution to the songwriting of the album to two songs. He had the feeling that there could be no more room for him in the band. Munier left the band after the recordings were over. He was no longer mentioned as a band member on the album cover.
Seducer was released as a single from the album and released in Europe as a 7-inch vinyl single , maxi single and CD single. The maxi single and CD single also contained the songs In The Shade Of The Sun and the unreleased with the album Chainsmokin ' as B-side . The CD single also featured Love Has Taken Its Toll from the band's debut album. In the USA, Seducer was released exclusively as a CD single with three different versions of the song (album version, heavy intro and acoustic intro version).
Track list
| Saraya | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | title | Songwriter | length |
| 1. | Queen of Sheba | Sandi Saraya, Tony Bruno | 6:17 |
| 2. | Bring back the light | Saraya, Bruno | 6:05 |
| 3. | Hitchin 'a ride | Saraya, Bruno | 5:44 |
| 4th | When You See Me Again | Saraya, Bruno | 4:37 |
| 5. | Tear down the wall | Gregg Munier | 5:27 |
| 6th | Seducer | Saraya, Bruno | 6:11 |
| 7th | When The Blackbird Sings ... | Munier | 5:29 |
| 8th. | Lion's Den | Saraya, Bruno | 4:14 |
| 9. | In The Shade Of The Sun | Saraya, Bruno | 4:44 |
| 10. | White Highway | Saraya, Bruno | 5:08 |
| 11. | New World | Saraya, Bruno | 3:36 |
| Overall length: | 57:32 | ||
reception
In a contemporary review of the German-based Rock Hard magazine , the author wrote that the “radical style change” announced by a Polydor doctorate was not taking place. When The Blackbird Sings… “noticeably bears Collins' handwriting” and “sounds more produced than the '89 debut”, for which Jeff Glixman pushed the controls “as he learned to do in the sixties,” which is why the band is “fuller equipped therefore ”and is“ also a bit ”more radio-friendly. “The roots”, however, are “still intact”. The album offers "updated seventies craft, hidden Zep / 'Smith quotes here and there, accurate Melody lines, infectious hooks - in short: classic heavy rock at its best". Balance is the key. While the debut had "besides a number of excellent songs, one or two slacks", "the new material is on a more constant level". “Compositional flops” are “just as little to be noted as Queensryche echoes”. When You See Me Again should “rightly be mentioned separately”, but the rest of the program is “only conceivably behind the most potential single hit”. The reviewer gave 9 out of 10 points.
Matthias Breusch said in his evaluation in Metal Hammer in the year of its release , "in terms of hardness, variety and guitar broadsides", compared to the debut album, "even a few much stronger strings have been pulled up". This album is "different" and offers "no infusion" of the previous chart singles. It is "therefore a bit of getting used to". It is not "from the melodic uniqueness of the predecessor", but "in any case a strong heavy rock package with plenty of groove and power". Breusch awarded five out of six points to be awarded.
Rocks wrote in an article in 2017 about the band that the "already noticeably harder songs" on When The Blackbird Sings ... had won thanks to the "exquisite sound" for which Peter Collins was responsible, that he had "put a not dissimilar sound stamp on the album" as he had before His "sound-refined" albums Operation: Mindcrime and Empire from Queensrÿche.
The British blog Get Ready to Rock posted a contribution to the album on April 16, 2020 in its feature Albums that time forgot and wrote that the album sounds better today than ever before. The guitars played by Tony Bruno are fantastic, the songs are direct and yet consistent, and Sandi Saraya's vocals are of course outstanding.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Billboard 200, week of June 24, 1989 , accessed April 20, 2020
- ↑ a b c d The call of the blackbird in: Rocks - The magazine for Classic Rock, issue 05.2017, pp. 74–77
- ↑ a b c d Metal Hammer, issue 6.1991, p. 145
- ↑ a b Metal Hammer, issue 6.1991, p. 64
- ↑ Album information at discogs.com , accessed April 21, 2020
- ↑ https://www.discogs.com/de/Saraya-Seducer/master/321698 Seducer on discogs.com, accessed on April 21, 2020
- ↑ Review at rockhard.de , accessed on April 21, 2020
- ^ "What's more, this album sounds better now than it ever did. The guitars (Tony Bruno) are fantastic, the songs immediate yet durable, and of course Sandi's vocals are a standout. "; Albums that time forgot , accessed April 21, 2020