FAR CRY – The More Things Change [Japan AOR CITY 1000 series remastered]

Some years ago Sony Music Japan started a campaign titled AOR CITY 1000, featuring a Low-priced Reissue on 100 classic AOR / AC albums from their back catalog, many of them out of print or hard to find. This is a limited offer (ending March 2017) with the incredible price around U$S 9 each CD (or 1000 Japanese Yen, hence the name of the campaign).
Among the 100 titles there’s albums by Toto, LeRoux, Balance, Airplay and many other gems, but the interesting ones are the hard to find (or at ridiculous prices) artists / albums, such as this “The More Things Change…” by Americans FAR CRY.

Far Cry was in fact a studio project lead New Yorker Phil Galdston and Canadian Peter Thom who worked together during the Seventies when recording companies used to hire ‘songwriter artists’.
Some of their penned tunes were pretty successful and they got an album deal releasing the LP American Gypsies as Galdston & Thom in the second half of that decade.The album passed without notice, however the music industry didn’t lose the faith in the duo’s potential.

Giant executive Phil Ramone called his alumni Elliot Scheiner (later involved in Michael Bolton’s Everybody’s Crazy, Toto’s IV, et all) to produce Galdston & Thom second effort, now under the Far Cry moniker.
This time all would be under the ‘high profile production standards’, with a big budget at hand and top session musicians contributing, including guitarists Mark Doyle, Elliott Randall, shuffle master Bernard ‘Pretty’ Purdie on drums, Donald Fagen on backing vocals & more.

Far Cry’s one and only album was entitled “The More Things Change…”, and basically comprises the early ’80s smooth melodies of those year’s successful FM Radio / AOR West Coast style: melodic, smooth, easy listening and plenty of sweet harmonies.
This is the kind of records from that time where all was clinically done in the studio with extreme attention to detail: arrangements, playing, production.

Session guitarist Mark Doyle recalls; “Producer Elliot Scheiner had four different guitar players in for a solo, punching in each note, even using combinations of different players for the same solo. I couldn’t get more than two bars into it before I would be stopped, hummed some phrase, punched in, hummed some other phrase, etc.”
This give you an idea of how “The More Things Change” sounds: perfect. Well, Mutt Lange later perfected this with Def Leppard, but that’s another story.

Far Cry’s “The More Things Change…” remained out of print for years until it was released on CD for the first time about fifteen years ago, out of print again.
This is you chance to get a Japanese Edition of this album at a really convenient price.
A collector’s item.

ＳＯＮＹ ＭＵＳＩＣ ＪＡＰＡＮ ～ 【SICP-4866－ＣＤ】
Ａ Ｏ Ｒ   Ｃ Ｉ Ｔ Ｙ  １０００

01 – The Hits Just Keep On Comin’
02 – Eldorado Escape
03 – The One And Lonely
04 – Because It’s There
05 – It’s Not As Simple As That
06 – Fight, Fight, Fight
07 – Ocean Eyes
08 – Suddenly Strings
09 – Tell Jack
10 – Some Things Will Never Change

Lead & Backing Vocals: Peter Thom
Keyboards, Lead & Backing Vocals: Phil Galdston
Guitars: Elliott Randall, Steve Khan, Mark Doyle, Jeff Mironov
Keyboards, Synths: Rob Mounsey
Bass: Tony Levin, Neil Jason, Will Lee, Doug Stegmeyer
Drums: Chris Parker, Bernard Purdie, Ed Greene, Liberty DeVitto
Percussion: Ralph MacDonald
Horns: Marvin Stamm, Randy Brecker, Timmy Cappello
Backing Vocals: Donald Fagen, Patti Austin, John Barranco

BUY
www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/SICP-4866