Album review: NEW ENGLAND – s/t (remaster)

Rock Candy Records [release date : 12.05.23]

New England relied not on fate or fashion, but on good old fashioned songwriting and hard work, treading the boards, making their name.

Led by the talented John Fannon, and owing a lot to English Progressive Rock, New Wave and the Beatles’ bright, shiny new pop template of the sixties, the band released their debut album in 1979.

Disappointingly, it failed to make the breakthrough it so thoroughly deserved.

‘Don’t Ever Wanna Lose Ya’, their signature track, mixed otherworldly keys with a solid, soaring mix of pop and rock, ‘P.U.N.K.’ matched UK glamrock bands, Sweet, ELO and Wizzard blow for blow.

‘Hello, Hello, Hello’, a tuned-for-radio track up there with the Raspberries and Cheap Trick opened the album in a blaze of powerpop colour, signposting the way to one of those debuts that just seemed destined to succeed big time, but didn’t.

Maybe it was just too derivative for some. Maybe it cut across too many genres for others. Another rock’n’roll mystery.

Originally produced by Mike (Queen/ Foreigner/ Journey) Stone, this remastered version sounds huge, most especially on the towering, wall to wall choruses. At first the album’s sonics register like a huge fanfare, but there are subtleties within the music that only register after several sittings.

Don’t miss this one. ****

Review by Brian McGowan

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)