DAVID ZAFFIRO – The Other Side (1989) [Digitally Remastered 2020] *EXCLUSIVE*

Known for his renown axemanship with the iconic Christian metal band Bloodgood, DAVID ZAFFIRO surprised in 1989 with his first solo album “The Other Side” where most the material, both in songwriting & production, embraced the melodic rock / AOR sound from the era.
Indeed, while Bloodgood albums were rich in melody and some hard rock groove, all were US metal in essence. With “The Other Side”, ZAFFIRO delivers a smooth collection of AORish tunes with that polished, pristine production so ‘1989’.
Many years out of print, this 2020 digitally remastered reissue is more than welcomed, for many to discover this very good album / artist, and a great addition to your collection if you already heard the LP back in the Eighties.

Since its first bits, “The Other Side” is far from the metallic juggernauts Zaffiro played on with Bloodgood (their first three albums) but ear candy for even the most discriminating rock music connoisseur. One listen and you realize the padlocks were cut loose from this master guitarist’s hands and you have been magically ushered into glorious riffing with feeling, with intensity, with skill and precision.
That brings us to the most tantalizing surprise of all – Zaffiro’s vocals. With one of rock and metal’s finest vocalists in Les Carlsen leading Bloodgood, we could have never guessed there was a world-class vocalist hiding in Zaffiro’s slight frame – but it’s absolutely perfect for AOR and melodic hard rock.

At places, ”The Other Side” brings to mind Bloodgood’s most commercial album, ‘Rock In A Hard Place’, however much more AOR in terms of songwriting.
Production wise, I always felt the original version to ‘The Other Side’ came across somewhat thin, which this remastering rectifies in allowing the bigger sound with added emphasis on low end and crisper rhythm guitars.

Said guitars stand out best on the first three tracks including “Stay” to cultivate a silky smooth AOR essence to see acoustic lacings and airy backing vocals align with Zaffiro’s killer extended guitar solo.
Subsequent two mirror a melodic hard rock form, with “I See Red” churning in upbeat fashion with its exhilarated disposition and leading rhythm guitars, and “Where Are You Now” slower in upholding an added bluesy edge but without forgoing the commercial faculties.
Of similar quality but in a lighter vein is album’s richly orchestrated title track fortified with exquisite keyboards and moving melody as Zaffiro showcases his eloquent vocal abilities.

Also very good is “Diversity”, joining darker, resounding passages with those acoustic to mirror a reflective tone and “To The End”, easy going and casual to start but picking up pace as a lively hard rocker inherent to catchy hooks the rest of the way.
On a calmer side are “Only Eyes” and “Spirit Of The Lord”. Former plays up pristine female backing vocals and a bluesy instrumental guitar facet, and latter embellished by classy keyboards and angelic vocal melodies.

The forward keyboards to the melodious “Why Me” dominates the scene with a true ’89 style, while the earthy rhythm guitars and child-like backing vocals are in similar fashion to “See No Evil”, off the 1990 self-titled debut from Holy Soldier, of whom Zaffiro produced its first two records.

Zaffiro surprises here with a mature first solo album, ranging from melodic hard rock to AOR wrapped by a very good guitar work a clean production. Kudos to the reissue label for making “The Other Side” available again in such a highly upgraded form and sound quality.
Only at 0dayrox

01 – Stay
02 – I See Red
03 – Where Are You Now
04 – Why Me
05 – The Other Side
06 – Diversity
07 – You
08 – To The End
09 – Only Eyes
10 – Spirit of the Lord

David Zaffiro – lead vocals, guitars
Kelly Carpenter, David Hubbard – keyboards
Bill Hale – bass
Davin McLaird – drums

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