Far removed from The Guess Who of the late 60’s and early 70’s, this 90’s version included original members Jim Kale and Gerry Peterson.
Written by: Eric
ARTIST: The Guess Who
ALBUM: Lonely One
LABEL: Intersound
SERIAL: 0015095915849
YEAR: 1995
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada
LINEUP: Terry Hatty – lead vocals, guitar * Dale Russell – guitar, vocals * Leonard Shaw – keyboards, sax, vocals * Jim Kale – bass, vocals * Garry Peterson – drums, vocals
TRACK LISTING: 01 Sweet Liberty * 02 Love’s All That Matters Tonight * 03 Lonely One * 04 Haunted Heart * 05 Anything For Love * 06 Rock ‘n’ Roll Classic * 07 The Razors Edge * 08 I Feel Your Pain * 09 Still Feels Like Love * 10 Amy
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
Far removed from The Guess Who of the late 60’s and early 70’s, this 90’s version included original members Jim Kale and Gerry Peterson. At this point long gone are Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings as well as the classic Guess Who sound, but on this record they are not missed. Kale and Peterson brought the band head first into the 90’s with a classic AOR sound that almost sounds as if it was recorded in the 80’s.
Of course that’s not a bad thing, but the album didn’t fare very well at the height of ‘Alternative’ rock, at least in the U.S. Released as ‘Liberty’ on the Aquarius label with a different cover my uneducated guess is it didn’t do much better north of the border. Still, for AOR fans ‘Lonely One’ is a keeper and with songwriting contributions from people like Alfie Zappacosta and Bob Halligan Jr how can you go wrong?
The Songs
In my opinion this is one of the best AOR discs of the 90’s although it could be argued that calling it a Guess Who album is a bit of a stretch but what the hell. The title track reminds me of Starship‘s ‘Love Among The Cannibals’ period. Progressive fans might remember vocalist Terry Hatty from the Nova Scotia group Ram and their highly collectible ‘Soundtrack For Pegasus 1’ and although he doesn’t have the range of Mickey Thomas, there are similarities in his vocal style.
‘Love’s All That Matters’ could have been a big hit if it were released ten years earlier as well as ‘Still Feels Like Love’ which will have soul-west coast fans squirming in their chairs. ‘The Razor’s Edge’ sounds a little bit like John Parr while the closing ‘Rock N’ Roll Classic’ crosses Henry Lee Summer with REO Speedwagon to great effect.
In Summary
Of course the critics of the day slammed this album and in 1995 a new Guess Who release was the last thing the music press expected or needed, especially one that harkened back to the glory days of the overblown 80’s. Oh well, one man’s junk is another man’s treasure and ‘Lonely One’ is certainly that – a treasure.
The Guess Who on Video
Sweet Liberty
Love’s All That Matters
