SILENT RUNNING – Walk On Fire (1987)
After more than three decades North Ireland rockers SILENT RUNNING are back with a very good new 2022 album titled ‘Follow The Light’, and aside of featuring it here at 0dayrox, we couldn’t resist to post as well their second CD, 1987’s “Walk On Fire“, a personal favorite.
Mixing British new wave, second half of the ’80s American pop-rock and smooth AOR atmospheres, “Walk On Fire” is pure Eighties. For this release the band were picked up by Atlantic Records, becoming the first British or Irish act to join the roster of this legendary American record label.
Largely produced by Terry Brown famed for his work with Rush (two tracks were produced by renowned keyboard player Andy Richards who has worked with Rush, Annie Lennox, Gary Moore), “Walk On Fire” is a vibrant, upbeat mid-Eighties record with all the magic from the era.
Just listen to “Sanctuary”…
The single ‘Sanctuary’ charted in the ‘rock’ top 40 in America, the band toured with major acts and on their own, however record sales didn’t moved as expected, causing the band to not make the elusive breakthrough that was hoped.
A shame, as tracks like ‘The Hunger’, ‘Heartbreak City’, ‘Heartland’, ‘Winds Of War’ and of course ‘Sanctuary’ are perfect examples of intelligent rock&pop with essence. There’s a lot of ‘big hair’ (it was 1987) and big synths, but these are pure songs you can play on guitar, and still good.
Peter Gamble’s voice is one of the key ingredients of this album. It’s strong and full of emotion, and is perfectly suited to that mid 80s sound.
It’s a pity this album didn’t bring SILENT RUNNING a wider audience, because it is one of the best pop/rock/lite AOR albums from that time.
Highly Recommended
01 – Sanctuary
02 – Heartland
03 – The Hunger
04 – Heartbreak City
05 – Walk on Fire
06 – Winds of War
07 – Under Your Skin
08 – Till Tomorrow Comes
Peter Gamble – vocals
Tony Scott – guitar
Richard Collett – bass
Ian Gault – drums
Ian Curnow – keyboards
Clive Griffin, Helena Spriggs, Linda Taylor, Shirley Lewis, Tessa Niles – Backing Vocals
Try Here:
www.amazon.com/Walk-Fire-Silent-Running/dp/B00000DP0L
