Year : 1977 (Rock Candy Remastered 2019)
Style : Hard Rock , Glam Rock , Pomp Rock
Country : United States
Audio : 320 kbps + scans
Size : 125 mb
Bio:
Angel is an American glam and hard rock band from Washington, D.C., United States, formed in the mid-1970s by Punky Meadows and Mickie Jones. They were signed to Casablanca Records, and had the image of dressing in white.Angel was discovered by Kiss bass player Gene Simmons performing at a nightclub and was eventually signed to the same label as Kiss, Casablanca.Angel's image of dressing in all white was a deliberate contrast to Kiss, which wore black. Angel sported an androgynous image and elaborate stage sets. They were slammed by rock critics, and Frank Zappa ridiculed the all-male band’s female appearance in the song “Punky’s Whips”.Angel never achieved mass commercial success but acquired a following as a cult band.Their first album was the self-titled Angel and consisted of guitarist Punky Meadows, bassist Mickie Jones, vocalist Frank DiMino, keyboardist Gregg Giuffria, and drummer Barry Brandt.This lineup would hold for the following two albums, Helluva Band and On Earth as It Is in Heaven, after which Jones would be replaced by Felix Robinson.They made an appearance in the film Foxes and Frank DiMino sang “Seduce Me Tonight” on the Flashdance soundtrack.DiMino and Meadows departed the band in 1981, and the remaining members brought in vocalist Fergie Frederiksen (later of Toto) and guitarist Ricky Phillips (later of The Babys, then Bad English, then Styx), but this lineup dissolved shortly thereafter.The former members of Angel went on to other things following the release of their live album. Lead vocalist Frank DiMino joined UFO guitarist Paul Raymond in the Paul Raymond Project in which he sang lead vocals. Bassist Felix Robinson played on the debut album of the band White Lion, Fight to Survive. Angel’s keyboardist Gregg Giuffria had modest success as the leader of the band Giuffria during the 1980s as well as with the band House of Lords, who - sans Giuffria - reunited in 2002 and released a new album, The Power and the Myth on Frontiers Records. In 2006, Giuffria appeared as a guest keyboardist on House of Lords' LP World Upside Down, and they released Come to My Kingdom in 2008 without Giuffria.In the late 1990s, Angel reformed with a new line-up. Keyboardist Gordon G.G. Gebert joined the band in 1999 but left in 2002. Currently, the band members are Frank DiMino, vocals; Barry Brandt, drums; Randy Gregg, bass; Steve Blaze, guitars; and Michael T. Ross, keyboards.[4] The band’s 1999 release In the Beginning also features guest appearances by original guitarist Punky Meadows, as well as Robinson. In 2000 came the release of Angel: The Collection, making it the most extensive Angel greatest hits compilation, including 16 songs.In 2006, Angel released two singles albums which has singles released through the band’s career (1975-1981), and even though it has most singles released at that time it does not include “Better Days” which was taken off the White Hot album and replaced with “The Winter Song”. This song remains unreleased on CD or cassette format. It is however available as a 7" single but is very hard to find. Angel is now working on a new album, which so far has no name, but has three songs written for it. They are: “Worship the Sun”, “Hold On to Your Dreams”, and the third untitled song.Bassist and founding member Mickie Jones died in San Dimas, California on September 5, 2009, after a long battle with liver cancer. Jones performed on four Angel albums (Angel, Helluva Band, On Earth as It Is in Heaven and An Anthology). He toured extensively with the band in the United States for several years. Before Angel, he played in the rock group BUX, which included guitarist Punky Meadows (Angel) and singer Ralph Morman (Joe Perry Project, and Savoy Brown). BUX released one album on Capitol Records, We Come to Play in 1976. Both Jones and Meadows were asked to join the New York Dolls but declined. After leaving Angel, he formed the Los Angeles band EMPIRE and was the lead singer. Empire included drummer Steve Riley (L.A. Guns). Over the years, he became interested in film production and would later work in the film industry.Singer Frank DiMino now resides in Las Vegas, Nevada and plays in classic rock tribute bands. Recently, he appeared on the Sin City Sinners Christmas album, singing lead vocals on the holiday classic "Winter Wonderland". Meadows issued his first-ever solo album in 2016, Fallen Angel.
Album:
Rock Candy Records specialists have remastered a second batch of ANGEL‘s discography, and here’s one of the band’s best: “White Hot”, plus 2 bonus tracks including the mega rare Canadian only single B-side ‘Better Days’.“White Hot”, one of Angel’s most mainstream, commercial and successful outputs, featured new bassist Felix Robinson. The track ‘Ain’t Gonna Eat My Heart Out Any More’ was a minor hit, very radio friendly. Compare this and the debut and they’re a mile apart, but listen to the albums in order and the journey seems obvious.The story of Angel is quite remarkable. Launched as the diametrical opposite of KISS (who shared the same label) the band was supposed to reflect the less intimidating qualities of their great adversaries.It was a polar position reinforced by progressive musical attributes and an image that featured angelic all white costumes. KISS was being sold as bad boys but Angel, like the name suggests, were knights in white satin.Their complex, prog-infused, pomp AOR rock suggested that they were superior musicians cut from a very British-influenced musical heritage, with shades of Yes, Led Zeppelin, Procol Harum and Genesis underscoring their style.‘White Hot’ was the band’s fourth album, following three highly praised but commercially disappointing previous records. This time around, they decided to take stock and plan a different musical strategy.One that saw them refining their style, drawing on hard hitting rock&pop rather than overt prog touches.In addition, they brought in a new producer, Eddie Leonetti, a man who had been building a healthy and respectable reputation as the hard rock producer de jour. His previous work with fellow LA rockers Legs Diamond helping to cement the decision to use him.Originally released in 1978, and housed in a beautifully illustrated album sleeve, the record boasted ten tracks of lean and mean rock, with the emphasis on hard hitting hooks and hip kicking riffs.Tracks such as ‘Don’t Leave Me Lonely’, ‘Ain’t Gonna Eat My Heart Out Anymore’ (originally recorded by the Young Rascals), ‘Hold Me, Squeeze Me’ and ‘Over And Over’ underscored the band’s intention perfectly.Look out to for the bonus ‘Better Days’. Oddly, this song only was released as single B-side in Canada only, and it’s a true collectible as the original tapes were lost. For this reissue, it’s obviously taken from vinyl, but the sound quality is very good.While “White Hot” was recently reissued (after many years out of print) as part of Angel’s The Casablanca Years Box Set, this Rock Candy remastered sounds better in my opinion, fuller.A great album from the golden era of Pomp AOR / MR.
Line-Up:
Frank DiMino – lead vocals
Punky Meadows – lead guitars
Felix Robinson – bass guitar
Barry Brandt – drums
Gregg Giuffria – keyboards, Moog, IIIC synthesizer
Tracklist:
01. Don't Leave Me Lonely 4:01
02. Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore 2:52
03. Hold Me, Squeeze Me 3:50
04. Over and Over 3:01
05. Under Suspicion 4:43
06. Got Love if You Want It 4:28
07. Stick Like Glue 2:39
08. Flying With Broken Wings (Without You) 3:33
09. You Could Lose Me 4:54
10. The Winter Song 3:45
11. Better Days (Single B-side) (Bonus Track)
12. The Christmas Song (Single Edit) (Bonus Track)
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