LAVA – Fire [digitally remastered +1 / First Time on CD] (2015)

Requested many times, here’s the Preservation Records exclusive remastered version of “Fire“, the most celebrated album for Norwegians AORsters LAVA. For many years out of print, the album originally appeared in 1984 finally has been digitally remastered from the master tapes, and reissued for the first time on CD with a previously unreleased, alternate version of Lava’s hit “Sophie”, plus a booklet including never seen photos and the story of the recording.

In 1983 Lava became Randy Crawford’s regular backing band and toured extensively for a period of 10 years around the world. Japan, Australia, UK, etc was visited in addition to several European and Scandinavian tours.
This lead to Lava with much more promotion outside their native Oslo, and the recording of their next album, this “Fire”, become their best-selling record ever and it was awarded Spellemannsprisen (Norwegian Grammy) 1984 in the class Rock&Pop.

Yes, Lava’s music here has many Rock&Pop foundations, but the overall sound & style is a unique mixture of Scandi west coast and hi-tech AOR.
Indeed, “Fire” showcases Lava’s members superb musicianship – often named as the “Scandinavian TOTO” – and the band’s classy arrangements & choruses, totally mid-80s.

Simply put, this is breezy, smooth collection of songs with some exquisite playing and wonderful melodies. Tracks like “I’m In Love” or “Sophie” became all time faves, both among the finest cuts in the genre coming from an European band.
“You” is a superb ballad where lead vocalist Egil Eldøen shine, “Fake” is one of the catchiest tunes on the record, while “The Woman I Want” is another fine example of why Lava is compared with TOTO.

Lava is an incredibly talented and proficient group of musicians, and this “Fire” is among their finest moments. This digitally remastered reissue includes and alternate, quite different version of their hit “Sophie” and a a superb, perfectly balanced sound.
Kudos to Preservation Records for rescuing this, until now, impossible to find Scandi west coast / hi-tech AOR little gem and put it for the first time ever on CD (another remastered Lava album can be found here).
If you like TOTO, Alan Gorrie, David Pack, Richard Page (Mr. Mister) and alike, this is a must. Strictly limited to 500 copies.
Highly Recommended

01 – Sophie
02 – Fake
03 – Something
04 – Streetgirl
05 – Loosing You
06 – You
07 – The Woman I Want
08 – Wait For Me
09 – I’m In Love
10 – Indian Summer
BONUS TRACK:
11 – Sophie (Alt. Version Previously Unreleased)

Egil Eldøen: vocals
Svein Dan Hauge: guitars
Rolf Graf: bass, vocals
Per Kolstad, Geir Langslet: keyboards
Sigurd Køn: saxophone
Per Hillestad: drums, percussion

BUY IT !
www.nehrecords.com/shop/LavaFire.htm
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