XYZ - Letter To God (Fyco Records Extended Edition) (2003)

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XYZ - Letter To God (Fyco Records Extended Edition) (2003)

Príspevokod užívateľa Horex » 06 Okt 2020, 13:17

XYZ - Letter To God (Fyco Records Extended Edition) (2003)

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Year : 2003
Style : Melodic Hard Rock , AOR
Country : United States
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 145 mb


Bio:

XYZ was originally created in Lyon (France) where Patt Fontaine and Terry Ilous were born and grew up. Then they moved to Los Angeles, and began a musical career in 1986. XYZ started off as the unofficial house band of "The Whisky A Go Go" nightclub in Los Angeles. The original members were Terry Ilous (vocals), Bobby Pieper (guitars), Patt Fontaine (bass) and Joey Pafumi (drums). A tour of the US with Enuff Z'Nuff and Alice Cooper followed the success of their 1989 Enigma released debut album, and they were signed by major label Capitol for their second.The band played clubs throughout the mid 1980s and first got a record deal in 1989 with Don Dokken as their producer. Terry Ilous's vocal style on the band's first album was very similar to Dokken's. Ilous and Fontaine then recruited Mark Diglio (guitars) and Paul Monroe (drums) to replace the departing Pieper and Pafumi, to record a debut album, produced by Don Dokken. The album was released in 1989 and contained the hits "Inside Out" and "What Keeps Me Loving You". Videos for both songs received reasonable airplay; however, the album itself was not an overall success, managing to reach only No. 99 on the Billboard charts. A third single from the album, "Maggy" was used in the 1990 Dolph Lundgren movie I Come in Peace. The next album, Hungry, released in 1991, had even less commercial success—not charting at all. Diglio and Monroe left the band and were replaced by Tony Burnett and Joey Shapiro, respectively. After the next tour was finished, band members went separate ways once again. They reunited in 2002 with the lineup of Ilous, Fontaine, Tony Marcus, and Shapiro, and still perform to the present day.XYZ is gaining success again in USA and Europe doing several festivals and shows. In addition to being lead vocals for XYZ, Terry Ilous is also currently doing vocals for Great White, replacing Jack Russell.Terry was recently interviewed by Argentinean rock journalist Lucas H. Gordon, where the singer talked about a recent charity event called '80's Rockers for Japan' organized by Ilous to raise money for the Red Cross from Japan, to help victims of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.In the event many hard rock celebrities appeared like ex-Toto Bobby Kimball, Paul Shortino, Rudy Sarzo, Michael T. Ross, John Payne, Carmine Appice, Vinny Appice, Lorraine Lewis and others.XYZ performed at Rocklahoma Festival in 2008, the M3 Rock Festival, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD, and Firefest, Rock City, Nottingham, UK in 2012.Drummer Joey Shapiro recently purchased drumstick and guitar pick grip company Gorilla Snot.While Terry Ilous is still the frontman for XYZ, he is also current lead singer for 80's band Great White as of 2010.Paul Monroe was a contestant with his Daughter on the 10/19/2016 episode of "That Awkward Game Show" on Spike TV.

Album:

XYZ is back after a twelve year hiatus. Having enjoyed the band's self titled debut album and the follow up, Hungry, I was eager to hear Letter To God. I've given this album several listens before arriving at a final opinion since it is quite different from their older material. I feel that this album will split fans into two groups: those who feel that the band has strayed too far from their trademark sound and those who enjoy the new Zeppelin-esque sound.The best way to sum this album up in a nutshell would be to call it a cross between Don Dokken solo material and Led Zeppelin. As fans of the band know, the band's debut album was produced by Don Dokken, and therefore has a very heavy Dokken influence. Vocalist Terry Ilous even sounded very much like Don Dokken on that album. Fast forward to 2003… The band's sound is slower, and nowhere near the LA metal of the previous two releases. As I said, the Led Zeppelin influence cannot be denied. In fact, Touch The Sky sounds like a direct Zeppelin knock off. There are numerous acoustic passages throughout the album which aide greatly to the whole retro-Zeppelin rock atmosphere. Terry Ilous even sounds a lot more like Robert Plant and less like Don Dokken on this album. Jeff Northrup's guitar work blazes throughout this album with quality solos and heavy riffs. However, I do wish the band could have cranked it up more throughout the album rather than plod along in the slow to mid tempo range the entire duration. Just when you get the feeling that a big, energetic crescendo is lurking ahead, the tempo does not change. Suffice it to say that Northrup would have shined even more with only a few more up tempo opportunities.Musically speaking, XYZ puts on a very tight performance for this album. The production is exceptionally crisp, with each component of the sound in perfect balance. As I said, Ilous and Northup shine, but the rhythm section is also very bold. Without a doubt, these guys know how to play their instruments. Although I am pleased with the individual performances of the band members, something is missing. The songs themselves just are not interesting or exciting enough to keep me coming back for more. The melodies are not very strong, and only a couple of chorus lines from the entire album can be remembered when the album is done playing. Hence, the album as a whole is not very memorable, especially when factoring in the lethargic pace of the album.For some reason, the band decided to include two re-recorded hits from their past. Inside Out has been given the 70's retro treatment, and What Keeps Me Loving You has been given a more stripped back, emotional delivery. Neither one of the two tracks surpasses or even equals the original version.When it's all said and done, I feel that die hard XYZ fans and fans of Led Zeppelin style hard rock will enjoy this album the most. All others, especially causal fans of the bands first two album will want to take a more cautious approach to this album. Despite the impressive individual performances on this album, I just don't find enough stand out moments to prevent this CD from becoming buried in my CD cabinet one month from now.

Line Up:

Terry Ilous - Vocals
Jeff Northrup - Guitars
Sean MacNabb - Bass
Paul Monroe - Drums

Guest / Session Musicians:

Vinnie Appice - Drums # 2
Nir Averbuch - Keyboards, Synthesizers

additional:

Produced: Terry Ilous & Jeff Northrup
Engineered: Jeff Northrup
Mixed: Jeff Northrup & Tom Fletcher

Tracklist:

01. What's on Your Mind (3:45)
02. Letter to God (4:34)
03. Asking (3:49)
04. Tango (4:40)
05. Rainy Day (4:01)
06. United (4:30)
07. Deny (4:22)
08. Touch the Sky (5:15)
09. Tell Me (4:31)
10. Well (3:33) (Bonus Track)
11. Inside Out (2003) (4:09)
12. What Keeps Me Loving You (2003) (4:29)
13. Never Too Late (3:34) (Bonus Track)
14. Burn It Up (3:48)
15. Tango (Spanish version) (4:39) (Bonus Track)


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