Roq Royale – Roq Royale 2012

All Exclusive, Hard Rock, Melodic Rock | AOR Leave a comment

The legendary 1988 Roq Royale hard melodic rock classic, finally released! Back in the day, this 80’s mega group recorded with Roy Thomas Baker then, after a spat, with their label the project was shelved. Now for the first time it is available! ROCK ON On the heels of Nathan Shaffer’s critically acclaimed 2010 solo release , “Come Back America”, the former Gambler lead singer’s 80’s passion project, ROQ ROYALE is finally out! Back in the day, Gambler was very popular in Germany and after Georg Siegl of German label, AOR Heaven heard Shaffer’s long-unreleased Roq Royale tracks, he knew he had to help get them out. Rock lovers, here it is!Roq Royale Liner Notes!

[spoiler]On the face of it, this album may seem to be a little bit of an oddity in terms of it becoming part of the AOR Heaven Classix stable of releases, mainly for the reason that it’s a record that, until now, has remained unreleased for well over twenty years. How then, you may ask, can it be defined as a classic? A moot point, but when you consider that what is contained here has been something of a Holy Grail for aficionados of melodic hard rock ever since word got out about the band that recorded it back in the late 80s – and the actual material the five musicians created only leaked into the public domain in the last four to five years – then you’ll begin to understand that there is more than a hint of legendary status attributed to what you now have in your hands.

The majestically titled Roq Royale was a band put together by erstwhile Gambler vocalist/guitarist Nathan Shaffer, although it’s fair to say the group’s almost mythical status has been achieved thanks to the involvement of Legs Diamond keyboard maestro Michael Prince. Indeed, for many years very little was known about the other members of the group (including Shaffer’s involvement, mainly due to misspellings of his surname by various sources) as tales of this seemingly mythical project grew amongst Legs Diamond’s worldwide fan base; even Prince himself tended to give little away about the group or, indeed, the album. Perhaps the reason for this is because of what happened to the band after the album had been recorded and promptly shelved by the record label (its original release was supposed to have been around 1989/1990) leaving a total sense of disillusionment with some members about the music business and, perhaps, a need to move forward for others.

However, the Roq Royale story effectively started in 1981 when Nathan Shaffer relocated to California after leaving the pomp rock outfit Gambler, following the release of the Chicago, Illinois based group’s second album, ‘Love And Other Crimes’, that had been issued by EMI America a year earlier.

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A quintet featuring Shaffer (vocals/guitar), Warren Mays (vocals/guitar), Del Breckenfeld (bass), Bruce Breckenfeld (keyboards) and Chuck Schwartz (drums), Gambler had debuted in 1979 with the Jeff Glixman produced ‘Teenage Magic’. Glixman, having helmed a number of Kansas’ biggest selling albums by then, had been the perfect producer for the group’s intricate style that has long since found them compared not only to Kansas, but also to fellow Mid-West luminaries Trillion and Head East (add in hints of Styx and even Legs Diamond on occasion too). However, a decision was made by the group (effectively the Breckenfeld brothers it would appear) to produce the follow-up record themselves alongside well known Chicago area producer/engineer Phil Bonanno…

1. Never Felt Like This
2. Nothing Lasts Forever
3. Walkaway
4. Sixtie’s Kids
5. Too Young to Die
6. Alone in Hollywood
7. Boulevard Lights
8. The Children Will Dance
9. Find It Out the Hard Way
10. Tempted
11. If I Were King
12. Someone Is Waiting

Nathan Schaffer – vocals, guitar
Billy Cannon – guitar, vocals
Jean-Paul Tantet – bass, vocals
Michael Prince – keyboards, vocals
John Merritt – drums

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