Out of nowhere came Aldo Nova during the northern summer of 1982. Well Montreal to be exact, and a very talented individual he is too.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Aldo Nova
ALBUM: Aldo Nova
LABEL: Portrait
SERIAL: FR 37498
YEAR: 1982
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada
LINEUP: Aldo Nova – played just about everything! Smart bugger.. – guitar, vocals, bass, keyboards
Additional Musicians: Denis Chartrand – keyboards * Michel Pelo, Roberto Biagioni – bass * Michel Lachapelle, Terry Martell – drums * Daniel Barbe, Dwight Druick – backing vocals
TRACK LISTING: 01 Fantasy * 02 Hot Love * 03 It’s Too Late * 04 Ball And Chain * 05 Heart To Heart * 06 Foolin’ Yourself * 07 Under The Gun * 08 You’re My Love * 09 Can’t Stop Lovin’ You * 10 See The Light
WEBLINKS: FB Page
Background
Out of nowhere came Aldo Nova during the northern summer of 1982. Well Montreal to be exact, and a very talented individual he is too. This debut album rocks with all the vim and vigour of the best North American melodic rock around at that time, though strangely enough the two biggest influences he had were probably Thin Lizzy and Trevor Rabin, both non American acts.
His ‘one man plays just about everything’ approach is synonymous with early Trevor Rabin material, while the twin guitars blazing has all the hallmarks of Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson from Thin Lizzy.
The Songs
The single ‘Fantasy’ climbed it’s way into the US Top 40 charts easily, and for it’s time represented the best AOR had to offer, before Asia arrived with their self titled album not long after and produced that classic #1 ‘Heat Of The Moment’.
Some of the songs on this album still haunt me years after the event. Such as the delectable ballad ‘You’re My Love’, and the desperate heartbreak of ‘Can’t Stop Lovin’ You’.. The rockier one’s are memorable too, ‘Hot Love’ is fast pulse laden AOR, like a commercial version of Thin Lizzy, while ‘Under The Gun’ is for me perhaps the best song on the album overall, dramatic, cutting, and frenetic in an AOR sort of way!
In Summary
Aldo also released a few videos of these songs, right at the beginning of the MTV era. Refer to a couple of them shown below. The flying helicopters, security guards with dark sunglasses, and of course, Aldo’s famous one-piece Leopard skin suit all too much to handle on the track ‘Fantasy’ (fantasy indeed!).
However, no AOR album collection would be complete without this one in it, a superlative album for sure. The other two follow up albums ‘Subject’ and ‘Twitch’ are also well worthy of your collection, and knowing most of the clientele visiting the GDM site, no doubt you’ll have them too! Without doubt, one of the best AOR debuts of all time and from an era where AOR ruled the airwaves.
Video
Fantasy
Ball And Chain
Under The Gun
Entire Album (Select Tracks)
