Aldo Nova: Aldo Nova (Remastered + Expanded) CD Track Listing

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Aldo Nova Aldo Nova (Remastered + Expanded) (1982)
Originally Released 1982\nCD Released January 18, 1988\nRemastered + Expanded CD Edition Released April 13, 2004\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: Canadian rock singer/songwriter Aldo Nova doesn't get enough credit (some cynics would say blame) for helping invent the 1980s pop-metal genre, which focused equally on hard rocking anthems and soaring power ballads. Aldo Nova appeared in 1982 complete with irresistible melodies and choruses, explosive guitar licks, and huge-sounding drums. It was a full year or more before Def Leppard, Night Ranger, Bon Jovi, and others would latch on to this formula and rocket to stardom. Nova wrote, produced, arranged, and performed his double-platinum debut album by himself, except for drums and some bass guitar and piano parts. Nova is quite proficient on guitar, but his secret weapon is his keyboard and synthesizer prowess. The hit single (and early MTV favorite) "Fantasy" cannot be denied; it's loaded with guitar and keyboard hooks as well as a catchy chorus. "Foolin' Yourself" has a more straightforward pop feel and it was a minor hit. "Ball and Chain" is the best-known power ballad on Aldo Nova, but the hypnotic "You're My Love" is better. "Hot Love" is propelled by several guitar solo bursts. "Heart to Heart" and "See the Light" are fast, energetic songs with crisp guitar riffs and swirling synthesizer lines. Aldo Nova is a minor classic. -- Bret Adams\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: (Remastered + Expanded Edition) Aldo Nova's 1981 eponymous debut is a masterpiece from a style that didn't have too many masterpieces, period: early-'80s album-oriented rock. Nova's album has all the hallmarks of the time, particularly in its sleek surfaces, yet its blend of pop and hard rock points forward to some trends that surfaced later in the decade. Yet even if it could be convincingly argued that the album laid some of the groundwork for pop-metal -- it's true that its radio-ready blend of loud guitars, pop hooks, and a sentimental streak became commonplace in the late '80s, but hair metal bands had a greater debt to Van Halen, Aerosmith, and Kiss, not to mention Def Leppard, who truly defined the style with Pyromania -- but the album is equally tied to the sounds of AOR in the pre-MTV days, thanks partially to Nova's use of keyboards and the spacious rhythm tracks. So, Aldo Nova straddles its eras, which would make it interesting in and of itself, but what makes it such a terrific record is that it's a great hooky pop album touched with a hint of a mad maverick sensibility. This is nearly a one-man-band album, with Nova producing the record and playing all the guitars, keyboards, and vocals, in addition to most of the bass (Michel Lachapelle handles most of the drums), and this lends the album a driven intensity as well as an inventive, wide-open sound that is commercial but never pandering. It may still sound of its time, but there's energy to the productions and elastic musicality in the arrangements, so it still sounds pleasing even if it does sound dated. A large reason that it sounds so pleasing is that Nova's songwriting is excellent. He's a good pop craftsman, with his vocal melodies complementing and expanding his riffs, whether it's on rockers or ballads. The over-amped, anthemic "Fantasy" was the hit, a favorite on album rock radio and MTV, with the surging ballad "Foolin' Yourself" also making some waves on the air, but they're just peaks on a record that is rock-solid, filled with terrific arena rockers and big ballads -- and that's an important distinction, because AOR albums were often filled with filler. Aldo Nova kicks off in grand fashion with "Fantasy" and "Hot Love" and it sustains its momentum until the end, and years later, it still is an unabashed pleasure, one of the great AOR records and an unacknowledged power pop treasure. [Aldo Nova was reissued in 2004 in a remastered edition by Epic/Legacy, featuring one bonus track: an alternate mix of "Foolin' Yourself."] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nPop Metal Blueprint Remastered, July 28, 2004 \nReviewer: Thomas Magnum (NJ, USA) \nAldo Nova's 1982 self-titled debut is a blueprint for the pop metal, or sometimes deridely called hair metal, music that would become tremendously popular throughout the 80's. The album is built around double tracked guitar riffs, sledgehammer drums and crisp melodies. The songs are either rocking anthems or power ballads. Mr. Nova spent three years as George Harrison in a Canadian version of Beatlemania, so he brought a strong sense of melody to the power chords. The album's open track and first single is the superb "Fantasy". The song opens to the sounds of helicopters and then kicks in with a searing guitar riff. The lyrics are pure 80's hedonism with talk of street girls and white powder. Mr. Nova was also one of the first artists to embrace MTV and his video for the song is a classic and peaked at number 23 on the charts. "Ball & Chain" and "You're My Love" are strong power ballads. "Foolin' Yourself" has a strong pop sound and was a small hit peaking at 65. "Heart To Heart" & "See The Light" heavily incorporate synthesizers into the mix. The album had a strong influence on Bon Jovi (whose cousin engineered the album) and he practically copies the album's format on his first few releases (Mr. Nova plays guitar on Bon Jovi's first hit "Runaway"). The album peaked at number 8 in early 1982, but Mr. Nova would never again crack the top 50 on the charts. He would later go on to big success as a songwriter and producer mostly notable for fellow French-Canadian Celine Dion for which he would win a Grammy for his production. This is a superb remastering of the album. The sound is a marked improvement over the original CD release which contained alot of hiss. Their is one bonus track, a demo version of the album's second single, "Foolin' Yourself", but the overall sound improvement is reason enough to buy th ealbum. \n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nSo maybe Canada isn't all bad, October 31, 2003\nReviewer: "daleband" (Buford, GA)\nY'know, I've always hated Canada. It's the 51st state and just won't admit it. It insists on being a *country* and that irks me to no end. But the joys of anthropomorphizing land masses aside, this album from Canada's favorite son is incredible. And I'm not just saying that because I'm drunk or anything. Really. I'm still pretty sober. \nNow I know you're not interested in my delineating which tracks rock the hardest, which ones are ballads with special meaning to me, which ones are filler, et cetera. No, you've come to expect more from unpaid reviewers, as well you should. But I do need to give a big shout out to the last song. I don't believe I'm using that street phrase correctly, but who cares? It's just a great song ostensibly written to tease those that do not see it, with the wonders of the light.\n\nIf you buy only one album this year, then that's one too many. However, if you download only one album this year, make this the one.\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nMost laughable all-time rock album, September 6, 2002\nReviewer: A music fan\nAldo Nova's self-titled "tour de force" opens with grand, epic-sounding synthetic helicopter and laser beam noises. Unfortunately, however, it goes straight downhill from there. The man has no idea how to enunciate his words, and thus much of the lyrical content is slurred and muffled beyond comprehension. The writing is no better, with rhyming only as a virtual afterthought, as seen in clumsy, awkward passages like "so hot . . . I'll give you a shot" and "so hot . . . I'll give you a lot". It is questionable as to whether or not Mr. Nova even has a basic grasp of the English language. The riffs on this record are spineless and vapid, which perhaps is only appropriate because it matches his girlish and wimpy vocal screeching. Side one, perhaps the most laughable five songs ever recorded by a hair artist, is actually a brilliant gem compared to Side Two, on which Aldo manages to add apparent boredom and listlesness to the already-potent mix of teeth-gnashing musical ineptitude. Mr. Nova is a disgrace to all power rockers of the early 1980's, and this album should only be listened to as a source of farce and metal-comedy. A joke.\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\n"I've got love comin' out of my ears", September 24, 2001\nReviewer: A music fan\n"Hot Love... in the night, oh baby you're so hot, and let me make this clear... I've got love comin' out of my ears". When Aldo sings of the urgent rush of teenage love he speaks for all of us. Lyrically, the thesaurus may desert him fron time to time, but there's an honesty, a naked passion here that I still find endearing, nearly 20 years after first hearing this record. Ball And Chain is the tear-jerker to end all tear-jerkers; Fantasy the killer opener, It's Too Late a personal favourite - the lyrics to which have a deep personal meaning, ...Here's to Aldo and his love-spilling ears!\n\nHalf.com Album Credits\nAldo Nova, Producer\n\nAlbum Notes\nPersonnel: Aldo Nova (vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass); Dennis Chartrand (acoustic piano); Michel Pelo, Roberto Biagioni (bass); Michael Lachapelle (drums); Dwight Druick, Daniel Barbe (background vocals).\n\nRecorded at Bobinason Studios, Montreal, Canada; Kingdom Sound, Syosset, New York in 1981. Includes liner notes by Bryan Reesman.
This jazz cd contains 11 tracks and runs 43min 7sec.
Freedb: 950a190b

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