CASANOVA – Heroes + Sway + Shine It All On [AOR Heaven Classix remastered]

You need in your collection CASANOVA stupendous Melodic Rock music, so here’s the AOR Heaven Classix series release of the band’s third effort ‘Heroes’ in a 2CD pack including the mini-album ‘Sway’ and the rare maxi-single ‘Shine It All On’ on a bonus disc, all remastered.
Under the title “Heroes + Sway + Shine It All On“, this is the first time this ’90s Melodic Rock / AOR little gem finally gets an international release, originally appeared in 1999 limited to the Japanese market.

Casanovas’s discography, as many other bands playing this kind of music during the Nineties, suffered from continuity due the reigning dark musical trends in the Rock genre along the decade.
After their two first albums, around 1995 Casanova faced contractual troubles with their recording label and between the band members. Then leader Michael Voss started another project; Demon Drive, more modern oriented.

However, in 1998 Casanova reunited again, and newly composed songs were recorded and the result was the band’s 3rd album “Heroes”, a CD only released in Japan in 1999.
“Heroes” was perhaps the lightest of the band’s releases yet quality AOR over and over. In terms of songwriting, the album retains the high musical standards of the previous while prioritizing compositions over performance.

For that matter, the protagonist instrument on “Heroes” are Voss’ vocals. Some of his best-to-date melodic singing are found on this album, plenty of rich harmonies proving that apart from a hard rock / metal vocalist, Voss is a great AOR singer.
It has to be addressed that the album includes a fair amount of clean guitars while the solos are reduced to a minimum. Still the overall quality of the songs makes the above fact barely noticeable.

In particular the midtempo ‘Revenge’, the smooth ‘Heaven Knows’ and ‘Star’, along with the great opener ‘Heroes’ and the heavier `Stranded’ are indeed timeless material that arguably sound more relevant today that in the late ’90s.
This AOR Heaven Classix reissue delivers as well two welcomed addition on a bonus disc: the EP “Sway” and maxi-single “Shine It All On”, originally appeared the same year as “Heroes”. These are from the same recording sessions, released separately because didn’t fit into a single CD length.

The material perfectly match to the style proposed by “Heroes”, with an even more pronounced melodi-pop side and some acoustic songs.
“Sway” has a superb cover of the Cheap Trick classic ‘I Want You To Want Me’, and titles like ‘Renegade’, ‘It’s Over Now ‘ or ‘Sway’ are really sweet melodic rockers done with style.
From the maxi-single, I really dig Marc Bolan’s (made famous by T. Rex) cover of ‘Children Of The Revolution’, while there’s a fine acoust track in ‘Sylvia’s Eyes’.

There’s a pristine remastering on this excellent reissue by AOR Heaven Classix of these albums, for years, really hard to find.
It is a limited edition release, unfortunately now sold out but you can find some used copies at selected stores.
HIGHLY Recommended

You’ve seen it first here, at 0dayrox

CD 1: Heroes remastered
01 – Heroes
02 – Star
03 – Stranded
04 – Revenge
05 – The Other Side
06 – Heaven Knows
07 – Carmen
08 – If You Wanna Be Loved
09 – How Can I Live Without You
10 – Examine
11 – Lady Luck
12 – Black Day
13 – No Excuse

CD 2: Sway + Shine It All On remastered
01 – Sway
02 – I Want You to Want Me
03 – Need A Little Loving
04 – Renegade
05 – Annie
06 – All That Matters
07 – It’s Over Now
08 – Sylvia’s Eyes
09 – Shine It All On
10 – Children Of The Revolution

Michael Voss: vocals, guitar, keyboards, co-producer
Michael Eurich: drums, percussion, backing vocals
Stephan Neumeier: guitar, backing vocals
Jochen Mayer: bass, backing vocals
Stefan Kaufmann: backing vocals, co-producer

Out Of Print
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