Only Child – Only Child

Only Child was the late 80’s musical vehicle for L.A session king and AOR hero Paul Sabu.

Written by: gdmonline

ARTIST: Only Child
ALBUM: Only Child
LABEL: Rampage
SERIAL: R2 70835
YEAR: 1988
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
# COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA

LINEUP: Paul Sabu – vocals, guitars * Murrill Maglio – bass * Tommy Rude – keyboards * Charles Esposito – drums, vocals

TRACK LISTING: 01 Just Ask * 02 Always * 03 I Wanna Touch * 04 I Remember The Night * 05 Love To The Limit * 06 I Believe In You * 07 Save A Place In Your Heart * 08 Rebel Eyes * 09 Scream Until You Like It * 10 Shot Heard Around The World

WEBLINKS: Site Link

Background

Only Child was the late 80’s musical vehicle for L.A session king and AOR hero Paul Sabu. When not involved in assisting others on their musical projects, Paul can be seen or heard working behind the scenes with other notables in melodic rock circles, a la Silent Rage through their 1987 ‘Shattered Hearts’ period.

Only Child follows after his 1985 ‘Heartbreak’ album, itself a fine album of rapier edged rock. With this one, the big keyboard arrangements are evident, a sound to be replicated a year later with the fascinating Alexa album. Still with Paul is drummer Charles Esposito, joined by two new hoods, Tommy Rude and Murrill Maglio. At the time, Sabu was the darling of several melodic rock mags, but somehow that enthusiasm didn’t translate into universal support among the global fan-base.

However, those with a hankering for Sabu’s certain musical and visual appeal, plus long time fans ignored the derision from certain quarters, and lapped up Only Child like thirsty children.

The Songs

The entree of ‘Just Ask’ is brilliant. Big sounding, lots of depth, fat keyboards, and a great chorus. ‘Always’ is a smoother radio friendly piece, with an arrangement similar to Strangeways.

The pair of ‘I Wanna Touch’ and ‘Love To The Limit’ are great moments too. The former has a classic AOR song structure with a strong pre-chorus/bridge ultimately leading into a memorable chorus. The latter track is gung-ho hard rock bordering on metal, though the ever-present keyboard layers prevent that happening. It’s definitely a buoyant piece of music.

‘I Believe In You’ is perhaps one of the definitive AOR moments onboard, with a chorus like this it’s no wonder: ‘I believe in you, do you believe in me, hearts running with the night..’. Again, it features a hooky keyboard sequence just prior to the solo. ‘Scream Until You Like It’ is perhaps best known as the track that W.A.S.P did, and though this version is heavy, it’s way too melodic and has a touch too much keyboard.

Only Child finish up with the anthemic ‘Shot Heard Around The World’, with a heavy dose of AOR keyboard to round off preceding. Admittedly a couple of tracks don’t stick in the memorabilia stakes (‘Rebel Eyes’), but the class of the others offset that.

In Summary

A much sought after album now, and though some may find the music unfulfilling, I believe its reputation is still intact after all these years. In comparison to his later efforts, this one still takes the cake. Paul is still very active in the biz right now, with participation on many projects.

Video

Save A Place In Your Heart