WAYSTED Save Your Prayers +3 [Cherry Red / Hear No Evil remaster]

With the just released WAYSTED box-set some of you asked for the also Cherry Red Records / Hear No Evil remastered release of the band’s more Melodic Hard Rock oriented album, the pretty awesome “Save Your Prayers“, including as bonus tracks 3 hard to find singles for the first time on CD.
Pete Way was the original bass guitarist and founder member of British hard rockers UFO. In 1982, after making 10 studio LPs with them, Pete left, initially to play bass with Ozzy Osbourne as well as briefly forming Fastway with Motorhead’s Fast Eddie Clarke.
Then in 1983 he formed Waysted. After releasing their debut album ‘Vices’ in 1983 on Chrysalis, before switching to Music For Nations for the release of ‘Waysted’ (1984) and ‘The Good The Bad And The Waysted’ (1985), the band signed to EMI / Parlophone label in 1985 for this “Save Your Prayers“ LP.
It was the mid-Eighties and the recording label wanted a more commercial, catchy musical approach according to times to appeal the US market.

A young, unknown American singer named Danny Vaughn (future Tyketto leader) was recruited to take the mic. His powerful and at the same time melodious voice brought a new dimension to Waysted.
Also an American drummer – John ‘Dee’ Diteodoro of Britny Fox fame – joined the band, providing a more groovy foundation for the US tastes.

Released in 1986 – what a year – on “Save Your Prayers” the ‘new’ Waysted managed to craft 10 brilliant songs that morphed the UFO riff’s and approach with a new American radio-ready melodic rock twist.
At the time Danny Vaughn pipes were compared with Steve Perry (but much more powerful and gritty) and the music was built on big melodic songs & hooks but still has a balls-out roar that would satisfy early Waysted fans.

The overall sound of “Save Your Prayers” is massive, heavy and glossy, capturing much of the feel of mainstream melodic hard rock in the mid-80s.
My favorite song, ‘Heaven Tonight’, is pure AOR heaven… probably the best thing Danny Vaughn has ever sung. ‘How the West was Won’ is also tailor-made for his singing style.
The band rocks on great numbers such as ‘Walls Fall Down’, the bluesy ‘Black And Blue’, the catchy ‘Singing To The Night’ and ‘Wild Night’, all superb examples of 1986 quality melodious rockers.

This Cherry Red / HNE Records remastered release is pure gold, as for years there has been some complete rubbish re-issues by small indie labels that have done the record no favors. Stay well away from the other cheap and nasty re-issues you will see listed.
Buy this “Save Your Prayers [Digitally Remastered +3 Extra Tracks]” as the remastering sounds brilliant, and includes 3 juicy bonus tracks.

One of them is the single B-side ‘Fire Under The Wheels’, a cool rocker, then an edit version of ‘Black & Blue’, but the real pearl here is the 7” single of ‘Heaven Tonight’, a completely different version of this awesome track, very rare and the first time on CD.

Danny Vaughn would shine later as Tyketto frontman, but this Wasyted album is where it all began for him, his fast ride introduction to the world of rock and roll on a global scale. And for many, his finest work.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

01 – Walls Fall Down
02 – Black And Blue
03 – Singing To The Night
04 – Hell Comes Home
05 – Heroes Die Young
06 – Heaven Tonight
07 – How The West Was Won
08 – Wild Night
09 – Out Of Control
10 – So Long
BONUS TRACKS:
11 – Fire Under The Wheels (B-side)
12 – Black & Blue (7” edit)
13 – Heaven Tonight (7” edit) [different version]

Danny Vaughn – lead vocals, tambourine
Pete Way – bass, vocals
Paul Chapman – guitar
John ‘Dee’ Diteodoro – drums

BUY
www.cherryred.co.uk/product/save-your-prayers