AUTOGRAPH – That’s The Stuff [Rock Candy Remastered & Reloaded]

AUTOGRAPH‘s debut album Sign In Please contained a surprise hit single, the infectious ‘Turn Up The Radio’, whilst a sell out tour supporting Van Halen elevated them into the upper echelons of the Eighties hard rock elite.
Things were looking more than good.

However, when a Stateside tour supporting Motley Crue was secured, RCA, their record label, hit the panic button, insisting that in order to keep momentum rocketing the band should get back into the studio and cut a follow up album as quickly as humanly possible.

It was inevitable that things began to slide; a rushed choice of producer, a lack of pre-production time and a touring deadline that was looming ever closer. Amazingly, when the album was released its cover had to be changed due to bungled copyright issues.
And if that wasn’t enough, in order to combat the appearance of Russian band Avtograf (pronounced Autograph), RCA thought it might be a good idea for Autograph to record a cover of Grand Funk Railroad’s classic ‘We’re An American Band’ adding it to the record half way through the campaign.

Under any other circumstance this set of events might have spelled disaster but for Autograph it was just a one more river to cross and one more hurdle to jump.
“That’s The Stuff“, despite all the pressures baring down on them, was hailed as another solid slice of prime-time American melodic hard rock, big on hooks and crammed with some of the best guitar playing that Steve Lynch ever recorded.

Opening with the the title cut filled with the same happy smiling in your face rock and roll as the debut album and take no prisoners attitude, has the echo kind of backing vocals that made Dokken and Ratt famous.
‘Blonde’s In Black Cars’ was the hit off this one, it’s actually quite good, sure it didn’t go as far as ‘Turn Up The Radio’ but that kind of song is really once in a lifetime. ‘You’ll Get Over It’ is a beautiful love song (mid-tempo, not really a ballad), ‘Crazy World’ is fun and rocking, in the Night Ranger vein.

The stand out track on this album is ‘Changing Hands’ a beautiful ballad that should have been released as a single, sounds very much like Def Leppard from the Hysteria period. ‘Hammerhead’ shows that is among the best, while ‘Built For Speed’ and ‘Paint This Town’ are cool melodic hard rockers with nice hooks.
This Rock Candy remaster includes the bonus ‘We’re An American Band’, a cover done in a very hair metal way.

“That’s The Stuff” is another solid album from Autograph, plenty of hooky rockers and a feel-good vibe.
Rock Candy’s chief engineer Jon Astley has enhanced the bass lines (slightly buried in the original) and now with this fresh remaster the record sounds punchier, more vibrant.
Highly Recommended

01 – That’s The Stuff
02 – Take No Prisoners
03 – Blondes In Black Cars
04 – You’ll Get Over It
05 – Crazy World
06 – Six String Fever
07 – Changing Hands
08 – Hammerhead
09 – Built For Speed
10 – Paint This Town
11 – We’re An American Band (bonus track)

Steve Plunkett – Vocals and rhythm guitar
Steve Lynch – Guitars
Randy Rand – Bass and backing vocals
Steven Isham – Keyboards and backing vocals
Keni Richards – Drums

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www.amazon.de/Thats-The-Stuff-Autograph/dp/B002Q8YC1W
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