MOXY – 40 Years and Still Riding High (2015)

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When MOXY first exploded onto the music scene in 1974 with their hit song ‘Can’t You See I’m A Star’ they seemed destined to become part of the alumni of heavy hitting Canadian bands making a mark in the US market.
This led to a recording contract with major label Polydor and found themselves going from strength to strength mainly due to the popularity and reputation of lead vocalist Buzz Shearman. Something that in 1980 had Buzz in consideration for the vacant lead singer position in AC/DC after the untimely death of Bon Scott.
That however as history tells us, never materialized, and then in 1983 tragedy struck with the death of Buzz himself in a motorcycle accident.
However here we are in 2015 with this “40 Years and Still Riding High“, a collection of newly recorded classic songs from the band bringing back the Moxy magic once more.

The only original Moxy member is veteran lead guitarist Earl Johnson (believe me, he rocks with the fire of young virtuoso) while the rest of the band in 2015 features experienced musicians, including terrific vocalist Nick Walsh, ex-shouter of excellent rockers Slik Toxik.
Most of these songs were written more than thirty years ago, but all have been updated with great arrangements. However, what has not changed is their classic hard rock vibe, in the very traditional sense of the genre.

‘Midnight Flight’ starts the disc and instantly you’ll feel the truth and spirit of the ’70s and ’80s heyday for this particular genre of hard rock, and it’s easy to see why there was such an initial fuss surrounding this group back in the day.
‘Can’t You See I’m A Star’ – that aforementioned hit tune – gives you that classic hard rock mix a little AOR push all delivered with a sparkling powerhouse vocal performance from Nick Walsh (btw, a Juno award winning, the Canadian Grammy).
‘Moon Rider’ and ‘Out Of The Darkness’ meanwhile are tracks nail it down and rock out to the commercial hilt, whilst ‘Another Time, Another Place’ is a mellower kinda power ballad and comes complete with quite the nicest of choral hooks.

‘Young Legs’ and ‘Time To Move On’ possess some neat riffage – as do pretty much all of the tracks on this collection for that matter – with a strong party atmosphere throughout.
Just check out ‘Nothing Comes Easy’ a tune that bangs around with a little sleazy thrown in for good measure, and this in all honesty throws up a touch of the Californian ’80s hard rock scene. Take a listen for yourself people.
Then the party gets started with some more good ol’ Rock ‘n’ Roll in the shape of ‘Rock Baby’ and I must admit, I’m finding these tunes totally infectious, especially given for what they stand for within their specific genre.

More ’80s hard rock comes with the pulsating ‘Riding High’, the groovy ‘Still I Wonder’, then ‘Sail on Sail Away’ flirts with melodic hard rock (akin Damn Yankees), and ‘Fantasy’ is a first class power ballad.
Moxy presents here a new track, previously unreleased called ‘Trouble’, and this tune is another punchy track for sure, showing that Moxy has not lost their fire and ability to write great songs.

“40 Years and Still Riding High” is a fantastic showcase for this underrated and great band that is Moxy.
All these songs are terrific pieces of Melodic Hard Rock played and arranged from the heart, with the 70s / 80s feeling all over. Production of these new re-recordings is top notch.
Fans of Night Ranger, Damn Yankees, Y&T, Triumph and why not, Tesla, should put your dirty fingers on this one as soon as possible.
HIGHLY Recommended.

01 – Midnight Flight
02 – Can’t You See I’m a Star
03 – Moon Rider
04 – Out of the Darkness
05 – Another Time, Another Place
06 – Young Legs
07 – Time to Move On
08 – Nothing Comes Easy
09 – Rock Baby
10 – Through the Storm
11 – Trouble (previously unreleased)
12 – Sail on Sail Away
13 – Still I Wonder
14 – Fantasy
15 – Riding High

Earl Johnson – Lead Guitar
Nick Walsh (Slik Toxik, Famous Underground) – Lead Vocals
Alexis Von Kraven (Exorcism, Mothers Green) – Drums
Rob Robbins (Rhett Forrester Band) – Guitar, Background Vocals
Oscar Anesetti (Rabid Hole) – Bass, Background Vocals

BUY IT !
www.amazon.com/40-Years-Still-Riding-High/dp/B00X16WO72
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