Year : 1985 (Girder Records Edition 2020)
Style : Christian Melodic Rock , Pomp AOR
Country : United States
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 88 mb
Bio:
If you don't know Twenty 20, you'll want to read this in it's entirety because this band just might be the biggest hidden gem of the 80's rock era. Why? Because Twenty 20 was a surprisingly flashy band, loaded with sure-fire commercial-based sound and a blend of art-rock anthems similar to that of STYX or KANSAS with a dose of straight ahead rock similar to THE CARS, WHITEHEART or even GIANT. The band mixed an interesting blend of pomp AOR with cool new wave melodies, all wrapped by a very Eighties arsenal of keyboards, synthesizers, synclavier and electronic drums. This Synth-AOR stadium rock band from the 80's would have been incredible to see opening up for Steve Taylor or Daniel Amos during their peek years or even as an opening act for MUSE or The Killers, with one exception... they might have stolen the show. They emulated art-rockers such as Kansas and Styx, as mentioned above, yet oddly enough this band escaped notice from Christian Radio and ultimately Christian bookstores because of one simple fact... the had some rather decent attention on mainstream "Secular" radio and the Christians would have no part of mingling those two worlds "Christian" and "Secular" together. Well, the cover of Twenty Twenty’s 1985 self-titled debut makes promises. The hair. The lasers. The futuristic band name and when you played it they make good on their uber-’80s promises. Opener on the self-titled “You Are So True” shows off the band’s hi-tech sound big time. Leading with a new wave keyboard line, the song very easily erupts into a definitively ’80s blend of synthesizer melodies and electronic drums. Guitarist Roscoe Meek even adds heroic chugging guitar lines to the mix. But where this album gets really fun is when keyboardist and Twenty Twenty’s go-to arranger Earnie Chaney let’s loose on synclavier and unleashes rapid-fire synth lines. “Security Code” and “War Games” are paired together at the front end of the album and cloak mentions of Heaven in ’80s concepts of technology. Twenty Twenty's music is hi-tech, and considering it was 1985, there's a lot of electronic percussion a la Simmons and Linn drums, and vocoder blasts throughout. The band was certainly in good company for their debut self-titled Twenty Twenty (1985) on Benson/PowerDisc, recorded in Nashville with marathon engineer Brent King (the so-called “Karate Man” who seems to have worked with everyone from Reba to Keith Urban) and fellow Christian band Whiteheart’s Billy Smiley, making Twenty Twenty seem more and more like a proper synthesizer-led stadium rock band.
Album:
Celebrating its 35th Anniversary, finally the 1985 self-titled debut album from American AORsters TWENTY TWENTY gets a remaster from the master tapes and released for the first time on CD.These album were produced by WhiteHeart's Billy Smiley, so expect nothing more than a pristine polished sound. Billy Smiley was/is like the modern day Dave Cobb, Quincy Jones or Rick Rubin. Most of what he touches is pristine flawless pieces of work and these are no exception. Finding either one of their albums, 1985 Self-Titled or their 1987 Altered became a challenge so we were elated that Billy Smiley worked with us directly to get this back out for the first time ever on CD. Take a quick look at the cover artwork and you know what this album is all about musically. Produced by Billy Smiley of Whiteheart, ”Twenty Twenty” has a first half of the ’80s sound mixed with Hi-Tech poppy AOR choruses and splashes of keyboards, synthesizers, synclavier and electronic drums.There’s also some STYX or commercial KANSAS pompy touches, all with a clean production & mix.Some tracks come out pretty Hi-Tech but with substance. There’s a really fine guitar work by Roscoe Meek, especially creating a sustain, clean rythym riffs, and we have an excellent vocalist in Ron Collins who released a stupendous AOR solo album in the Nineties.To my ears, this first LP “Twenty Twenty” resulted into a successful mix of Styx, Rick Springfield, Allies, AORish Kansas and frist half of the 80s American pomp.For years a collectors piece vinyl LP, now we can enjoy ”Twenty Twenty” in all its glory.The professionalism of this album and the production put into it will amaze even the pickiest of critics. Each song sounding nothing like the previous. All unique and very strong. There are a few slower Whiteheart like ballads such as Find Your Way Back, which give it just the breath it needs, slowing down only enough for a quick gasp of air before taking off again with She drove up in a red corvette, the lyrics of Material Things with some serious guitar hooks and jams and one of the better guitar solos albeit short.
Line-Up:
Ron Collins – vocals
Roscoe Meek – guitars
Gary MacAnally – bass
Greg Herrington – drums
Earnie Chaney – keyboards
+ guests:
Mark Gersmehl, John Slick, Billy Smiley – synths
Richard Head – Synclavier Programming
Dennis Holt – Simmons Drums
Gary Lunn – Linn Drum Programming
Marty McCall – Background Vocals
Production:
Recorded At – Center Stage Studio
Recorded At – Master's Touch
Mixed At – Mastermix
Remastered At – Bombworks Sound
Manufactured By – The ADS Group – 24376-CD-0046
Design, Art Direction – Paul Proctor
Engineer [Additional Engineering] – Allen Brown
Executive-Producer – Mary Lynn Robbins
Mastered By – Hank Williams
Photography By – Dean D. Dixon
Producer, Backing Vocals, Mixed By – Billy Smiley
Programmed By [Synclavier Programming] – Richard Head
Recorded By, Mixed By – Brent King
Remastered By – Rob Colwell
Tracklist:
01. You Are So True
02. Security Code
03. War Games
04. His Fame
05. The Second Mile
06. Love to Go
07. He’s Still There
08. Danger Zone
09. You Can Know Them All
10. World Premiere
Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
