Music Banter - View Single Post - AOR: Anteater's Guide To The Best Of 80's Melodic Rock

Anteater · 12-26-2010, 04:34 PM

6.

Tim Feehan – S/T (1987)

1. Where's The Fire (4:57)
2. Listen For The Heartbeat (4:17)
3. Vanna (4:00)
4. Loveline (4:28)
5. Read Between The Lines (3:47)
6. Mean Streak (4:21)
7. The Painter (5:00)
8. One Step Away (4:23)
9. Isolation (4:13)

In the 1980's, it wasn't a walk in the park to escape AOR. This is because when there weren't hair metal bands pouring out power ballad after ballad, there were usually mullet-donning people with vaguely unmemorable names merging West Coast pop with big-arena production of AOR and getting it on your T.V., commercials, movies, everything. However, for every two dozen wannabe singer-songwriters that attempted to take over the world from 1980 through the early 90's, there was usually one or two such individuals who upped the ante just a bit more than their contemporaries, usually due to better written songs, better arrangements, vocals, etc.

One of these exceptional individuals, in my humble opinion, is a Canadian producer/singer-songwriter named Tim Feehan, who through this 1987 debut proved that he could do the Adult Contemporary game better than pretty much anyone else in the business. Musically, he comes across as a mix between the atmospheric melodic sense of a group like Mr. Mister/Simple Minds and the songwriting kick of such institutions as Sting and Go West at their best.

That being said, such a sonic concoction can be a good or bad thing depending on what kind of listener you are. To enjoy AOR-lite of any kind requires zero preconceptions, an ear for hooks and production, and a strong tolerance for cheese and excessive reverb. If you meet these criteria, then you'll find a lot to like here: opener and initial single 'Where's The Fire' takes a punchy drum-machine cadence, Tim's confidant delivery and the occasional stratospheric keyboard and forges the elements into one of the better songs from the A/C spectrum of popular music. It later would gain notoriety for being the main theme to cult classic 80's film The Wraith.

The other eight tracks are highlights in their own way though. 'Loveline' is reminiscent of The Police with its tremolo picking echoes, but laced by an odd-metered synth note that gives this MOR some sparkling edge in terms of rhythm. On the more laid back side of things, 'Listen For The Heartbeat' is probably my favorite of the quiet storm pieces here due to its refrain. It reminds me of the stuff my Dad would pop in during car rides when I was a toddler in the early 90's, stuff that still sticks with me all these years later: pop music on the radio these days just doesn't have atmosphere anymore. Things were different a generation or two, once upon a time...

Again though, I know that this album is a hard sell for many of you. The idea of listening to Adult-Contemporary of any kind (unless its for the laughs like the stuffz of Rick Astley) might seem to be an inward betrayal to your usual tastes. Still, in terms of what the hallmarks of an 80's West Coast pop-rock AOR album was -- big keyboards, spacious production, layered vocals, anthems galore -- I consider this album to a particularly excellent representative of the style, if not THE best of all time.

Those tolerant of romance, "dated" production and who don't mind the periodic guilt trip down memory lane will find Mr. Feehan enduring. The rest of you, stay tuned for sleazier stuff coming later on!