On their second albun ‘Take A Deep Breath’ Brighton Rock move into melodic rock territory, as opposed to their raucous debut ‘Young Wild And Free’.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Brighton Rock
ALBUM: Take A Deep Breath
LABEL: WEA Canada
SERIAL: 255 969-2
YEAR: 1988
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada
LINEUP: Gerry McGhee – vocals * Greg Fraser – guitars * Johnny Rogers – keyboards * Stevie Skreebs – bass * Mark Carvazan – drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 Can’t Stop The Earth From Shakin’ * 02 Outlaw * 03 Hangin’ High ‘n’ Dry * 04 Ride The Rainbow * 05 Rebels With A Cause * 06 Power Overload * 07 Who’s Foolin’ Who * 08 Love Slips Away * 09 Shootin’ For Love * 10 Unleash The Rage
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Brighton Rock Background
Another great Canadian band were Brighton Rock, bordering on that fine edge of heavy metal and melodic hard rock. Fronted by Glasgow born Scot Gerry McGhee, his vocals are rather distinct, and give the band a rather unique sound.
Brighton Rock were put together by Gerry, Greg Fraser and Steve Skreebs as far back as 1984. Their emphasis at the time was to focus on songwriting and write material towards an album.
Scoring a lucky break, it saw them chosen to enter a song on a Toronto radio station’s ‘homegrown’ album. Ironically they competed against another Toronto AOR band in Eye Eye. This, and their independent EP put them in the sights of WEA Canada who promptly signed them.
The Songs
Their debut album ‘Young Wild And Free’ produced by Michael Wagener was a ravenous and raucous album. To these ears Brighton Rock sounded slightly rough and raw.
However it certainly kept them busy during 1987. On their second albun ‘Take A Deep Breath’ Brighton Rock move into melodic rock territory. This was a zone occupied by the likes of Def Leppard (a la ‘Hysteria’). The emphasis was on power, melody and intelligent structure. A logical progression you would think.
Veteran producer Jack Richardson does production duties this time around and man! what a sound. There are some incredible tracks on offer.
‘Outlaw’, ‘Hangin’ High And Dry’, ‘Ride The Rainbow’ are great examples. Then there’s the wickedly heavy and entertaining ‘Power Overload’ as well as the sonic attack of ‘Shooting For Love’. My favourite is ‘Who’s Foolin’ Who’ which has a great combination of keyboard layers and high octane vocals from McGhee.
In Summary
At the time, the album got a great reception in the press, the UK welcomed them as long lost souls. Brighton Rock convinced the very fickle UK rock fan that Canadian bands can indeed rock big time!
This CD sits very close to the death deck. When I need a sonic blast for relief, I can always count on Gerry McGhee’s vocals to clear the cobwebs out! Great stuff.
Brighton Rock on Video
Click to go to YTM album page.
