FAKE I.D. – Dreaming Ezekiel (1997) out of print
As requested, here’s a wonderful album that belongs to every self-respected AOR collection. “Dreaming Ezekiel” is a collection of songs from the project named FAKE I.D., which is in fact the work of uber talented ’80s female songwriters Pamela Barlow & Janet Minto. The duo were one of the most requested song creators alongside the couple Robin and Judithe Randall.
Pamela and Janet wrote songs for Alien, Jim Jidhed, Boston, Mark Free, Stan Bush just to mention a few AOR giants. Many of their other songs were demoed by renowned artists but never recorded / released. Back in 1997 and thanks to stupendous European label MTM, finally a bunch of their songs got released.
Baptized FAKE I.D., this is Barlow / Minto producing their own songs for the first time ever, also providing some vocals. But for the main singer role, they called the great Gene Miller (vocals for Richard Marx, Peter Cetera, Gregg Rolie) who already demoed these tracks back in the ’80s to be offered to diverse artists. Like Mark Free, Gene has a perfect voice – perfect for classic American AOR that contains both height and soul, just the way you want it.
If you love refined AOR like Signal, The Storm, FM, Strangeways, etc, ”Dreaming Ezekiel” is a given record to check out with its pure AOR / Melodic Rock sound. Because this is classic 80s built up with incredibly strong melodies made for soundtracks and great videos on MTV.
As example, fantastic tracks like “Half a Heart” or “I’m A Fighter” could have been on one of Heart’s Eighties records. “Tears Don’t Put Out A Fire” was already recorded by Alien for their classic album and this version is really good too. “Heartbreak Moon” is just as good and really smell like Jeff Paris and his awesome Wired Up record.
Here’s Janet Minto words about the recording of “Dreaming Ezekiel”:
”This is just a remembrance of what is was like to create these songs and performances. My songwriting partner Pam Barlow and I were at the top of our game during these years, we had perfected every aspect of the path from inspiration through the recording process, with the enormous help and assistance of world class engineer Chris Minto.
You have to remember – this was back in the days when there were no Pro-Tools, no auto-tune, no digital, minutely manipulatable recording. We recorded to tape – in this case a Tascam 8-track. We had to actually be able to sing and play. BIG difference these days.
Each of these songs was lovingly crafted after being meticulously and often contentiously decided upon and written. These are the best of the best, many of them subsequently recorded by other bands and used in various TV show soundtracks. Thanks so much for listening and for loving our work. YOU are the reason we worked this hard.”
”Dreaming Ezekiel” isn’t about huge production – this album was recorded on a budget. This is a labor of love, love for this timeless genre – and always, in the end, is all about good songs. And ALL here are the definition of the genre.
A Must
01 – About And Beyond The Call Of Love
02 – Heartbreak Moon
03 – Nothing Next To You
04 – Tied To The Mast
05 – Half A Heart
06 – Even The Stong
07 – Tears Don´t Put Out The Fire
08 – Hearts Break Like Promises
09 – Go Easy
10 – I´m A Fighter
Gene Miller – lead vocals
Pamela Moore Barlow – vocals
Janet Morrison Minto – vocals
Brad Bailey, Basil Fung – guitar
Pat Regan – keyboards, synths
Bruce Barlow – bass
Steve Klong, Brent Klopp – drums, percussion
Peter Hume – guitar on track 8
Gary Cambra – guitars on track 7
Lorraine Frisaura – vocals on track 4
Roger Feits – bass on track 4
out of print
