DAN SEALS – Stones [Wounded Bird Records remaster WOU-9275] Out Of Print

To add some variation to the musical styles at 0dayrox, here’s the requested remastered version of “Stones”, the solo debut album from DAN SEALS. After the break-up of successful country / soft rock act England Dan & John Ford Coley, ‘England Dan’ went solo at the beginning of the ’80s, and with the likes of Richie Zito, Steve Lukather, and Ray Parker, Jr. on guitars, you know “Stones” it is going to swing more to the radio-friendly sound England Dan was synonymous with from his success with the duo.
This is smooth West Coast AOR / FM Soft Rock with a bright production and an early LA Session sound / style.

While Seals already was a skilled songwriter in his own right, part of the material for “Stones” comes from a bunch of different songwriters yet consistently excellent, the production is masterful, the session man work top class, and Seals is in his usual great form vocally.
Title track “Stones (Dig A Little Deeper)” was written by Kenny Loggins’ cousin Dave Loggins, of “Please Come to Boston” fame, and he adds some backup vocals on this and another tune. It’s a rocker, somehow cathartic departure from the music Dan Seals had become associated with, and features a killer Steve Lukather solo.

Things cool down quickly for the refreshingly stripped-down “Late At Night”, and then there’s the soaring “Love Me Like The Last Time” with melodic Seal’s vocals and just another great guitar work by Lukather.
We find a great ballad in “Getting To The Point” sporting that early ’80s classy West Coast sound, followed by the catchy / funky “How Do I Survive” (also done by Amy Holland on her self-titled debut from the same year)

‘Side 2′ is mostly great as well with the uptempo guitar-powered pop-rocker “Holdin’ Out For Love” featuring David Foster on synths, the contemplative yet upbeat “You Could’ve Been The One”, and the mellow “Take You Home” again with an FM radio feeling.
“When It’s Over”, co-written by John Ford Coley, is slightly sappy, but still a nicely crafted ballad, and the album ends with the gorgeously melodic acoustic tune “Lullaby”.

Big thumbs up to Wounded Bird Records for making “Stones” available on CD after many years being hard to find, and with this clear remastering.

01 – Stones (Dig A Little Deeper)
02 – Late at Night
03 – Love Me Like The Last Time
04 – Getting to the Point
05 – How Do I Survive
06 – Holdin’ Out for Love
07 – You Could’ve Been the One
08 – Take You Home
09 – When It’s Over
10 – Lullaby

Dan Seals – vocals, acoustic guitar
Richie Zito – electric guitar (4-8)
Steve Lukather – electric guitar solo (1), lead guitar (3)
Jon Goin – electric guitar (1, 7)
Paul Jackson Jr. – guitar (5)
Ray Parker Jr. – guitar (1, 7)
Rafe Van Hoy – gut-string guitar (2, 10), acoustic guitar (3, 8)
Paul Worley – electric guitar (3)
Charles Fearing – guitar (5)
Steve Gibson – electric guitar (7), guitar (8)
Shane Keister – synthesizer (1, 5, 7), keyboards (3, 4, 6, 8, 9)
David Foster – synthesizer (3, 6)
Bill Payne – acoustic piano (5)
Nathan East – bass (1, 5, 7)
Bob Wray – bass (3, 8)
Jack Williams – bass (4, 9)
Mike Baird – drums (1, 6, 7)
Larrie Londin – drums (2, 3, 4, 9)
Ed Greene – drums (5)
Kenny Buttrey – drums (8)
Paulinho da Costa – percussion (1, 5)
Farrell Morris – percussion (3, 4, 6-9)
Bergen White – orchestral arrangements (4, 9, 10)
Tom Kelly, Dave Loggins, Shari Kramer, Lisa Silver – backing vocals

BUY IT
www.amazon.com/Stones-Dan-Seals/dp/B000HEV8KA