As requested by many, here’s the recording material from Pittsburgh based melodic hard rockers RAQUEL. Formed in 1990 and self-managed, after recording a demo locally released on cassette, Raquel burst onto the scene with a blend of powerful guitar-driven songs and memorable melodies.
The band gained notoriety with the song “Pop Goes the Music” which was featured on MTV in the early 90s. This marked the start of the relationship between the band and producer Toby Wright, who is now known for his work with Alice In Chains and Korn. However, having Wright behind the desk on some of the songs, don’t expect a dark sound but very fun, bright melodic hard very well produced for an unsigned band.
”Quarter ’til Three” features unreleased songs recorded by RAQUEL in 1991-92, a supposed 3rd album that never was. Well, at the time the band only had released their 1990 demo on cassette. The songs for the 2nd album (including “Pop Goes the Music”) were finally released 1998-2001.
Some of the tracks on ”Quarter ’til Three” were produced by Wright – I don’t know the others but the quality is excellent for unreleased stuff. Musically here the band feels more mature, but catchy as ever and with a very good guitar work.
01 – Let Him Go
02 – Bad Girl
03 – Uptight
04 – Never
05 – White Nights
06 – Ride The Rocket
07 – Quarter ’til Three
08 – Cry Baby
09 – I’ve Been Alone
Ron English – Lead Vocals, Keyboards
Kevin McDonald – Guitars, Background Vocals
Eric Gadrix – Guitars, Background Vocals
Billy Covert – Bass
Sean McDonald – Drums