Sahara Snow was in the main a whole raft of 1997 penned tunes from the trio of Springfield, Pierce and Marlette, interspersed with a couple of remixed tracks from Springfield’s 1991 demo days.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Sahara Snow
ALBUM: Sahara Snow
LABEL: MTM Music
SERIAL: 199623
YEAR: 1997
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Rick Springfield – vocals, guitars * Tim Pierce – guitars * Bob Marlette – keyboards, drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 Modern World * 02 Rovianne * 03 Scandalous Life * 04 Psychoactive * 05 Is Everybody Happy? * 06 Miss Your Kiss * 07 Suzanne * 08 Heaven * 09 Stranger * 10 New Lover * 11 Somwhere * 12 Lust
Background
I know there are many Rick Springfield fans out there, and we’re not just talking about his participation in soap operas and low budget TV shows either! Remember ‘High Tide’ anyone? At the end of Rick’s 80’s heyday era, he went label-less for a few years. At the turn of the decade, Rick had a high-quality series of demos that had made it’s way around the AOR Underground.
It wasn’t until his collaboration with his former guitar partner-in-crime Tim Pierce and AOR demi-god Bob Marlette around about 1996/97 that some of those demos resurfaced. The vehicle for this occurrence was the project Sahara Snow: which was in the main a whole raft of 1997 penned tunes from the trio, interspersed with a couple of remixed tracks from his 1991 demo days.
When I first heard this CD, I hated it. Not sure why, but after a few years break, and a return to the CD player, either I’ve mellowed, or this CD has suddenly become a whole heap better. What is apparent is the classy musicianship from all involved. The music is punchy driven pop with a funky overtone (as only Springfield can play), embellished by the fiery guitar lines of Pierce, making for a powerful package overall.
Take a smidgen of David Hallyday, and mix it up with the likes of C’vello and Roscoe Martinez and you’re about as close to the Sahara Snow sound without standing on top of it!
The Songs
‘Modern World’ kicks off accordingly, preaching to the listener what it takes to live in the modern world. Some seven years later, I think the 2004 reality is lot worse than what was predicted when this song was written! ‘Rovianne’ is one of my album highlights: a busy track admittedly, but with an arrestingly good chorus that’s bound to get you.
Tim Pierce gets to strut his stuff on ‘Scandalous Life’, the guitar zing giving this track more ‘life’ than usual. ‘Psychoactive’ is right out of the David Hallyday funky tunes songbook, followed by the equally effervescent ‘Is Everybody Happy’. ‘Miss Your Kiss’ is real funky, upbeat and full of the groove. C’vello did stuff similar to this, so there’s your benchmark.
Elsewhere, ‘Heaven’ follows in a similar vibe to the Marlette/Mark Free collaboration on ‘Goodbye To The Good Times’, a Marlette trademark obviously, while another album highlight is the smooth workings of ‘Stranger’, not as stark as the title would suggest. A ballad turns up toward the end of the album: ‘Somewhere’, the CD finishing with a return to Rick’s 80’s pop roots with ‘Lust’, a little dig at societal addictions, whatever they might be.
In Summary
For those of you who (like me) were a little bit put off when this album came out, give it another go. There are some gems onboard. It just takes a little digging to rescue a few pearls out of the grooves. Rick Springfield fans? Well you can ignore everything I’ve said. No point preaching to the converted eh?
Sahara Snow on Video
Click to go to YTM album page.
