As part of the really good Universal Music Japan campaign of their ‘HR/HM 1000‘ series – the Limited Release reissue of long time out of print albums from their Hard Rock / Heavy Metal catalog at the affordable price of 1000 Yen = about 7 USD – and their recent second 2022 batch ”HR-HM 1000 Vol.5”, we find this great, underrated rocking album; LITTLE ANGELS final CD “Jam“, including 2 bonus tracks.
Fronted by talented Toby Jepson, LITTLE ANGELS surprised early in 1993 with “Jam” peaked at number 1 in the UK Albums Chart. This is one of the albums / bands that at the time signaled the resurgence of hard rock in Great Britain, alongside Thunder and others.
Jam had all the ingredients of a major radio rock album — powerful melodic guitar-based songs, especially the album’s opener, “Way That I Live,” and its first single release, “Too Much Too Young,” an anthemic singalong with Bryan Adams on guest vocals.
Alternating with the rocking tracks were softer ballads “Womankind,” which not surprisingly became their biggest hit single, “The Colour of Love,” and “Sail Away.” There’s an AOR format on the song “Don’t Confuse Sex with Love,” and there’s a rocking cover of the Kinks’ “Tired of Waiting for You”, with a great intro including crazy Hammond organ.
“Jam” was the last LITTLE ANGELS and perhaps their best – or at least their most complete. The rock musical landscape was changing, and while this melodious rock still remained popular in Britain, Toby Jepson was decided to try different things, later fronting FastWay, Wayward Sons, and others.
Highly Recommended
01 – The Way That I Live
02 – Too Much Too Young
03 – Splendid Isolation
04 – Soapbox
05 – S.T.W.
06 – Don’t Confuse Sex With Love
07 – Womankind
08 – Eyes Wide Open
09 – The Color Of Love
10 – I Was Not Wrong
11 – Sail Away
12 – Tired Of Waiting For You
13 – S.T.W. (Reprise)
BONUS TRACKS:
14 – Hard Times
15 – I Got The Shakes
Toby Jepson – vocals, guitar
Jimmy Dickinson – keyboards
Mark Richardson – drums
Mark Plunkett – bass
Bruce John Dickinson – guitar
Bryan Adams – backing vocals on “Too Much Too Young”