WITNESS – Witness [YesterRock / Sony remaster]

This was in the request list and it’s a must have: WITNESS, the AOR / Melodic Rock US band fronted by Debbie Davis and their self-titled album remastered by YesterRock in all its glory.

Originally operating in Georgia under the monicker of Native, this five piece moved to San Francisco after having been signed by Arista Records in 1988.
In fact Witness was the vehicle for the pretty Debbie Davis and her powerhouse voice to be presented to the world. So although the band lineup was pretty unstable, the record label anyway suggested the use of pro-session musicians for the debut recording.

Oh, and what a tremendous musicians; Neal Schon and Steve Smith from Journey, Brad Gillis from Night Ranger, Danny Chauncey from 38 Special and well-known session man Tim Pierce!
Although they got credits here and on the album, neither Damon Johnson (g) nor Eddie Usher (b) were actually performing.

Partially produced by Bill Drescher (4 tracks) and master Kevin Elson (6 tracks), “Witness” is regarded as one of the best female fronted melodic rock / AOR albums of all time. Actually it’s in my Top10.
This is GEM with capitals with one killer track after track since opener ‘Show Me What You Got’ (check out Brad Gillis’s awesome solo), ‘Do It Till We Drop’, ‘Am I Wrong’, etc all are killers, no fillers.

A pity the Witness adventure only lasted for one album. And whatever happened to Debbie Davis after the demise of Witness remains a mystery to me, with this solo album becoming pretty hard to find over the years.
Fortunately YesterRock / Sony finally made justice to this fantastic ’80s piece with this superb remastering, it really sounds incredible.
ESSENTIAL

01 – Show Me What You Got
02 – Do It Till We Drop
03 – Am I Wrong
04 – Desperate Lover
05 – Let Me Be The One
06 – You’re Not My Lover
07 – Jump Into The Fire
08 – When It Comes From The Heart
09 – Borrowed Time
10 – Back To You

Debbie Davis – vocals
Joey Huffman – keyboards, guitars
Eddie Boyd – drums
Damon Johnson – guitars
Eddie Usher, Bill Drescher, Eddie Moody – bass

Neal Schon (Journey) – guitar solos
Brad Gillis (Night Ranger) – guitar solos
Tim Pierce John Waite, Fiona, et all) – guitar solos
Danny Chauncey (38 Special) – guitar solos
Steve Smith (Journey) – drums

BUY IT !
www.musik-sammler.de/media/409184/