SANTERS – Shot Down In Flames ; The Definitive Remasters Series
SANTERS, one of the very best bands that came out of Toronto in the early ’80s, finally are getting official remastered reissues of their albums. Few weeks ago appeared their second ‘Racing Time’, and now we have here Santers’ first; titled “Shot Down In Flames”.
The remastering job is excellent all over, from clearer rhythm section to crisp vocals.
Since their long-awaited reformation and return at Firefest 2012, Canadian power-trio Santers are in the process of remastering their back catalogue. and this “Shot Down In Flames” was the first one.
Bassist Rick Lazaroff and brothers Rick and Mark Santers (guitars / vocals & drums / backing vocals respectively) were a pretty new band when they recorded this album, and with a limited budget and manager Robert Connolly in the production chair, the results were as good as could be expected.
With a sound similar to fellow Torontonians Triumph, ‘Shot Down In Flames’ was honest, classic hard rock / rock and roll with that distinctive early ’80s North American sound.
Santers’ cover of the Donnie Iris classic ‘The Rapper’ has always seemed like an odd opener to me despite its obvious charm and ‘Crazy Ladies’ is just plain stadium rock, but the more upbeat ‘You Turn Me On’ and the melodic ‘Time After Time’ have stood the test of time pretty well with Rick’s tuneful vocals and some neat musicianship from all concerned.
It was always the second side of the LP that did it for me, with the slowly building title track, the exuberant ‘Caught In The Wind’ and the well-written cut and thrust of ‘Paths Of Heart’ and ‘Points Of Resistance’ that started to point to what Santers were really capable of on their next album.
There are no bonus tracks here and the band have resisted the temptation to include the already available live versions of a couple of these songs, which is fine by me as the remaster adds a depth and clarity to the original studio tracks that belie their low-budget origins. The separation of the instruments is particularly striking, especially Lazaroff’s superb bass work, which is worth a few listens on its own.
As a precursor to their two real classics, the treatment afforded ‘Shot Down In Flames’ makes me even more keen to hear what they do with ‘Racing Time’ and third album ‘Guitar Alley’ (still not released in remastered form).
Highly Recommended
01 – The Rapper
02 – Crazy Ladies
03 – You Turn Me On
04 – Time After Time
05 – Lost and Found
06 – Shot Down in Flames
07 – Caught in the Wind
08 – Paths of Heart
09 – Points of Resistance
Rick Santers – lead vocals, electric and acoustic guitars
Rick Lazaroff – bass
Mark Santers – drums, percussion, background vocals
BUY IT
www.amazon.co.uk/Shot-Down-Flames-Santers/dp/B00A50P258
