‘Still Be’ is a five-year follow up to the Toys Of Joy debut and is more organic and heartland rock-oriented, the difference between the two is as wide as the Amazon.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Toys Of Joy
ALBUM: Still Be
LABEL: Medley Records
SERIAL: EMI 8336112
YEAR: 1995
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Denmark
LINEUP: Henrik Launbjerg – vocals * Hans Egestorp – guitars, keyboards, backing vocals, mixing, arrangements
Steffen Qwist – guitars, backing vocals * Lars Elswing, Jon Bruland (#13) * Morten Bolvig – keyboards, backing vocals * Jakob Lisager – drums, percussion, backing vocals * Jan Lysdahl – drums (#13) * Rune Olesen – percussion * Henrik ‘Krølle’ Kristensen – harmonica (#1, 4) * Cæcilie Norby (#5, 7, 10), Nina Forsberg (#5, 7, 10), Søren Launbjerg (# 11)
TRACK LISTING: 01 This Is Where We Stand Now * 02 Makin’ Of A Man * 03 Lay Your Hair Down * 04 Still Be * 05 Heart Beating Closer * 06 Since You’ve Been Gone * 07 Just A Little More * 08 When The Sun Goes Down * 09 Cold Steel * 10 Cold Cold Wind * 11 I Go Down So Hard * 12 Wild Boy * 13 A Cut By Your Tongue
WEBLINK: NA
Background
Formed in 1989, this Danish outfit first came to my attention via the UK fanzine Boulevard. Their debut 1990 album ‘One Of These Days’ is a near perfect example of West Coast meeting a hi-tech form of AOR. It still gets a listen in the current day.
Primarily the band is the partnership of singer Henrik Launbjerg and instrumentalist Hans Egestorp, along with a supporting cast. This album ‘Still Be’ is a five-year follow up to their debut and is more organic and heartland rock oriented. The difference between the two is as wide as the Amazon River.
The Songs
The material is very jangly and Americana in style, so if acts like fellow Danes Sko/Torp and Canadian Roch Voisine are your thing, then start casting your net. Unfortunately, I found much of this material not very stickable to these ears, and even the most fervent fish hook wasn’t able to reel anything in.
In Summary
‘Still Be’ did OK in the Danish charts but not much elsewhere. After this, the band renamed itself Tois and released a few singles but that was about it from these talented Danes.
Toys Of Joy on Video
Click to go to YTM album page.
