GARY HUGHES – Strength Of Heart (1990) [Reissue 1992] *HQ*

During his 30+ year musical career, GARY HUGHES has established himself as one of England’s premiere AOR, melodic and hard rock singer & songwriter. Hughes achieved fame as frontman of successful outfit TEN, but early in his career he debuted as solo artist in 1989 with the album “Big Bad Wolf” (re-titled and re-released with extra tracks in 1990 as “Strength Of Heart”) through the Polygram Oslo label in Germany and Norway.
In 1992, Gary signed a deal with the then newly formed indie British label Now & Then Records for a new album, and “Strength Of Heart” was reissued.
As requested, here’s “Strength Of Heart [Reissue 1992]” which sounds way better than the original, fuller.

Musically speaking, this is one of the greatest AOR albums from the ’90s. In fact, most of the songs into “Strength Of Heart” were written in the ’80s so the structure, arrangements and melodies are pure mid-Eighties.
This is not ‘epic’ as TEN, but incredibly smooth, top-class classic AOR with Gary’s impressive voice carrying some memorable tunes. “Some Kind Of Evil”, the terrific “Only True Love Lasts Forever”, the title track and the slightly Leppard-ish “Bringin’ All Of Your Love To Me” are just a few examples of the superb quality on display.
A MUST

1 – Some Kind Of Evil
2 – Only True Love Lasts Forever
3 – Strength Of Heart
4 – Bringin’ All Of Your Love To Me
5 – Big Bad Wolf
6 – Helen’s Eyes
7 – Man Behind The Mask
8 – Christine
9 – Hammer Your Heart
10 – Can’t Get You Out Of My Head
11 – Photograph
12 – Stay
13 – Vigilante
14 – Helen’s Eyes (Reprise)

Vocals, Guitars, Bass – Gary Hughes
Bass, Programming – Simon Humphrey
Keyboards – Howard Smith
Keyboards, Synthesizer – David Hewson
Backing Vocals – Sandy McLelland

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