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From the Vault...
01/06/2002
#767 |
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info
Survivor
"Vital Signs"
© Scotti Brothers Records
Year of Release: 1990
Rating:
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track listing
I Can't Hold Back
High On You
First Night
The Search Is Over
Broken Promises
Popular Girl
Everlasting
It's The Singer
Not The Song
I See You In Everything
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WSVNRadio Archives
Survivor related sites:
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Survivor
"Vital Signs"
FINALLY!!! Survivor has debuted on the WSVNRadio.net Website!
Survivor has always been one of those groups that I wished had more
popular exposure -- before, during and after their heyday in the 1980s.
With only one #1 hit ("Eye Of The Tiger," 1982), and many radio
favorite hits, finding their original albums on CD is like looking inside
a treasure chest, hoping to find them.
In the late 1990s, I was fortunate to see Survivor twice at one of the local
carnival festivals. Jim Peterik, keyboardist for Survivor, was walking amongst
the crowd, saying hello to everyone, and was walking towards my direction.
I brought up the courage to talk to him, and asked him why the original
Surivor album catalogue was not released on CD. He said they weren't, but
they are in Japan. (Survivor is very popular in that country.) So, the only
other way was to keep looking in the record stores for either used CDs, and/or
imports. Likewise, browsing through the ads in record magazines (Goldmine),
if they were available. To this day, many of their original albums are not on
CD, yet if you look really hard in your local record stores, and magazine ads,
that treasure chest can be found.
Vital Signs is the first Survivor album reviewed on this website,
and luckily, when I found this CD, it was one of the few that was regularly
available on CD. Featuring four radio airplay favorites ("I Can't Hold
Back, "High On You," "The Search Is Over," and "Broken Promises"),
this album, likewise other albums by this band, truly defines Survivor
exceptional, and from an era of the 1980s that symbolized pop-rock.
Many of the popular songs from this release, such as "I Can't Hold
Back" and "High On You" could be compared to the likes of the 1980s
Jefferson Starship. "First Night" can be compared to Journey, with its
soft introduction, and then kicks into an upbeat rock style.
Survivor is also best known for recording some of the most beautiful ballads
of the 1980s. "The Search Is Over" is one of those great tunes. Often
having a ballad sound like Journey, I always felt that Survivor was better
than Journey, yet Survivor never did get the recognition they deserved than
Journey did.
Of the four radio airplay favorites, "Broken Promises" is one of my
favorites. It's never tiring, and in my opinion the best song from this album.
"Popular Girl" has the keyboard intro almost similar to another
Survivor favorite of mine, found on their Caught In The Game release,
"Jackie Don't." "Popular Girl" is one of those lost album tracks;
it's another great rock tune by Survivor overlooked. Another "lost album track"
is the medium-tempo'd "Everlasting." This one can be compared to Journey
again, where it could also be a ballad, with a more upbeat rock sound, as heard
in Journey.
Actually, the remaining tunes can also be classified as "lost album tracks"
overlooked, which are truly enjoyable. "It's The Singer Not The Song"
can be compared to (again) to the likes of both Jefferson Starship and Journey,
with its upbeat rock sound. "I See You In Everything" is another medium
upbeat song, and it is easily recognized as another good Survivor tune.
Survivor is a great band. If you can find their original albums (not
counting Greatest Hits packages), you will agree that their sound defined the
Rock of the Eighties. Survivor is still performing today, and I still await
for mew material. (Jim Peterik announced to the audience both times I saw them,
that they were working on a new album, which has yet to be released.)
Unfortunately, Jim Peterik has left Survivor to reform another band he was in,
The Ides Of March.
The Ides Of March's original albums claimed to be lost. They re-recorded their
most popular hits and released two
Ideology CDs. Given time, their original
albums will be found and updated to today's CD technology. (Another band where
their original album masters were lost, were The Amazing Rhythm Aces. Recently,
Collectors Choice Music located the
original masters, and reissued their original albums on CD.)
Survivor's Vital Signs is an excellent album. I have yet to hear
a Survivor song/album that is less-than-average. Discover the Rock of the
Eighties -- Survivor!
Check out the Survivor website at
SurvivorBand.com
© WSVNRadio.net. All rights reserved.
Review or any portion may not be reproduced
without written permission. Cover art is the
intellectual property of
Scotti Brothers Records
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