Formed in the early ’80s, AOR / Melodic Rock American band HALO had to wait until 1990 to release their debut album. It was 1989 when Halo’s demo was presented to John Elefante who quickly got the band into his studio to produce their first full length offering, which contained a perfect slice of classic hard-edged AOR stuff next to AVIATOR, ALLIES, JOURNEY and of course, Elefante’s MASTEDON.
With heavenly layered choruses, relentless and driving guitars, swirling keyboard splashes and a tightness you could only expect from a band together for a decade, HALO’s album checks all the boxes for a classic that transcends any rock and roll era.
Long time out of print, now Girder Music is remastering/reissuing this terrific album, “Halo (30th Anniversary Edition)” plus the previously unreleased demo that started it all.
Seriously, this is awesome US AOR / Melodic Hard stuff…
The band launched way back in 1980, when drummer Mike Graham was introduced to vocalist Scott Springer & guitarist Keith Mims. They did the club circuit and recorded a professional demo but nothing happened. However, they were together for close to a decade before a chance meeting at a Petra concert.
The band handed Bob Hartman (PETRA) a home-recording cassette with some music. HALO would later get a call from Bob himself, who invited them into his home studio to record a 4-song demo, later presenting it to John Elefante of Pakaderm Records who signed them immediately.
That demo with a fine sound quality, it’s added here as bonus, remastered.
In 1990 HALO released this, their self-titled debut full-length self-titled album, and while initially only known among American fans of the genre, rapidly gained a cult status with requested copies from Europe, Japan and South America.
Halo’s energetic AOR sound has been compared to such well known bands as Journey, Foreigner, Kansas, and Mastedon. Personally I remember wearing out my cassette copy of this album because this release was and is that good.
The album blend like few the punch of late 80s US melodic hard rock with the smooth yet edgy AOR sound from the era: lots of melodies & harmonies, sharp guitars, synth / keyboard runs, and that huge, reverb-rich rhythm section.
‘Skyrocket’ (featuring John Elefante on vocal duet), ‘Lose to Live’, ‘Time to Run’, ‘Soul Searcher’ are just among the gems here, but the entire album is brilliant stuff in this genre.
This 30th Anniversary Edition has been remastered by audio specialist Rob Colwell of Bombworks Sound, so you know this 2020 Girder Records remaster rates as must-have ear candy.Hard-to-Get for decades, don’t delay and grab this limited 30th Anniversary Edition.
01 – Jesus Music
02 – Lord of All
03 – Good Feeling
04 – Soul Searcher
05 – Skyrocket [duet with John Elefante]
06 – Lose to Live
07 – Sing (Of His Glory)
08 – Language Barrier
09 – Time to Run
10 – Timeless
BONUS TRACKS:
11 – Gut Feeling
12 – Sing (demo version)
13 – Language Barrier (demo version)
14 – Language Barrier (Radio Friendly Mix)
Scott Springer – Lead Vocals, Bass
Keith Mims – Guitar, Backing Vocals
Mike Graham – Drums, Keyboards, Backing Vocals
John Elefante – Additional Keyboards & Background Vocals
John Schriener – Piano
Glen Pierce, Dino Elefante, Tony Palacios – Additional Guitars
David Raven – Additional Drums
Bob Hartman – Additional Arrangements