BALANCE – Balance [Rock Candy Remastered & Reloaded]

An essential band in any Melodic Rock / AOR collection are without a doubt Americans BALANCE. Both their ’80s albums were officially released on CD & remastered by Rock Candy Records and are must haves for sure.
Born in the US East Coast at the beginning of the Eighties, Balance were a mini super-group of sorts. Pride of place was taken by vocalist Peppy Castro a man whose CV boasted commercially successful stints with several acts from different genres.
Guitarist Bob Kulick had built a solid reputation as a super-session player contributing to diametrically opposed talent as Diana Ross and Kiss. Third man on board was yet another session wunderkind; that’s keyboard wizard Doug Katsaros.

Enlisting the help of NYC powerhouse managers Leber/Krebs and signing to the impressive Portrait label (a division of Columbia Records), Balance looked set to bulldoze their way into the hearts and minds of music fans coast to coast.

Indeed, for a few exciting weeks the project looked set to explode when the track “Breaking Away” caught fire at radio, reaching the dizzy heights of #22 on the US chart.
Sadly, however, the momentum quickly dissolved leaving the band unable to capitalize on their good fortune.

Compared, at the time, to similar sounding acts such as Toto, Styx, Journey and Foreigner, this self-titled debut album originally released in 1981, contained a stunning array of top notch AOR with vocals and arrangements to die for.
A finer combination of melody and catchy choruses with the unique FM Radio sound that ruled the era and become a staple for early ’80s AOR: lots of heavenly keyboards, powerful choruses and rich vocal harmonies.

Songs like “Breaking Away” (with a Pomp dosage on it), the delicious “Looking For The Magic”, the catchy “Haunting” and “Fly Through The Night” and the sophisticated ballad “Falling In Love” are sure fire winners.

“Balance” is one of the finest early ’80s AOR / Melodic Rock records from the American scene, wonderfully remastered by Rock Candy Records from original source tapes, including a complete full colour booklet with 4,000 word essay about the making of the album and a new interview and full involvement from the band.
A Gem

01 – (Looking For The) Magic
02 – I’m Through Loving You
03 – Breaking Away
04 – No Getting Around My Love
05 – Fly Through The Night
06 – American Dream
07 – Haunting
08 – Falling In Love
09 – Hot Summer Nights
10 – It’s So Strange

Peppy Castro: Lead and Backing Vocals
Bob Kulick: Guitars
Doug Katsaros: Keyboards, Backing Vocals
with;
Andy Newmark: Drums, Percussion
Willie Weeks, John Siegler: Bass

BUY IT
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