MAMA’S BOYS – Power And Passion [Gott Discs remaster] HQ *Exclusive*
Years ago we featured in exclusive at 0dayrox the BGO Records remastered reissue of MAMA’S BOYS 1985’s album “Power And Passion“, and now we have here the Gott Discs remaster with a better, more crisp sound in our opinion, and at maximum quality.
Mama’s Boys consisted of three McManus brothers from deepest darkest Ireland; Tommy played drums, Pat ‘The Professor’ the guitars, and John at charge of lead vocals & bass. “Power And Passion” is a quite commercial melodic / hard album full of catchy and bright melodic songs.
Mama’s Boys were part of the NWOBHM scene, but as happened with most bands from that musical movement in the mid-Eighties they started to work on more accessible rock n’ roll.
Produced by the skilled Chris Tsangarides (Gary Moore, Girl, Magnum), “Power And Passion” is a melodic, polished record starting with the hard rockin’ ‘Hard ‘n’ Loud’, a stadium-ready rocker to die for.
On ‘Straight Forward, No Looking Back’ we find a Def Leppard riff circa their High ‘n’ ‘Dry era, yet with ’80s flavored keyboards in the mix. ‘Lettin’ Go’ brings to mind Helix but Mama’s Boys add their own touch with some bagpipes and violins (perfomed by Pat) resulting in a unique tune.
‘Needle In The Groove’ is a bluesier, effective rocker where arise a bit one of the band’s major influences; Thin Lizzy.
‘Run’ is a commercial and radiable melodic hard rocker with catchy choruses, again influenced by Def Leppard but also with an American feel – a market to where the album was created too – let’s say Night Ranger as example.
Title track ‘Power And Passion’ has some Kiss on it, with chopped riffs and a hooky chorus and the in the middle creating a great atmosphere with a nice keyboard arrangement. Very good, pure ’80s track.
The disc ends in full throttle with ‘Let’s Get High’, a fun Americanized hard rocker.
Mama’s Boys turned more AORish on their next ’87 album – the already featured at 0dayrox ‘Growing Up The Hard Way’ – but this “Power And Passion” ranks on par in quality delivering a great mix mid-Eighties melodic hard riffs & catchy choruses embellished with typical ’80s keyboards.
This Gott Discs remastered version is crisp, respecting the original Tsangarides’ sharp production.
HIGHLY Recommended
01 – Hard ‘n’ Loud
02 – Straight Forward, No Looking Back
03 – Lettin’ Go
04 – Needle In The Groove
05 – Run
06 – Power And Passion
07 – Don’t Tell Mama
08 – The Professor II
09 – Let’s Get High
Vocals, Bass – John McManus
Drums – Tommy McManus
Guitar, Fiddle, Violin – Pat McManus
with:
Keyboards – Big Danny, Chris Dunn
Programming – Pete ‘Q’ Harris
Background Vocals – The Sharpettes
Try Here:
www.amazon.co.uk/Power-Passion-Mamas-Boys/dp/B000EZ91PG
