SONG OF THE DAY - Its ROCKTOBER 21st, which makes it 1985, and for todays Favorite Albums Through The Years, I couldnt decide which worthy album to go with. However, since its Tuesday yet again, I can get away with picking both., For todays first Two for Tuesday pick, weve got a little known album that should have been a monster hit. Icon is an American Heavy Metal/Melodic rock band that formed in 1979, in Phoenix, Arizona by high school friends Dan Wexler (guitar), Stephen Clifford (lead vocals) and Tracy Wallach (bass). They were joined by Dave Henzerling (guitar) and John Covington (drums). Originally known as The Schoolboys, they chagned their name to Icon in 1981, and were signed to Capitol Records in 1984. By this point, Henzerling and Covington had left the band and were replaced by John Aquilino (guitar) and Pat Dixon (drums). NIGHT OF THE CRIME was the second album by Icon. Produced by Eddie Kramer, mixed by Ron Nevison and featuring the co-songwriting talents of Bob Halligan Jr., it was far more polished than their self-titled debut and forayed into areas only previously alluded to on that album. Full of first rate, great songs and catchy, hit worthy material, the album should have been a huge commercial success. It easily rivaled or bested many of its contemporaries from the same time period. Unfortunately, during the mixing of the album, vocalist Stephen Clifford decided to quit the band for personal reasons, leaving the rest of Icon in a bit of a lurch. With no singer, or way to tour behind the album, their record label did little to promote it, and the album sank into relative obscurity. It was classic case of what might have been. Those who did find and hear the record, though, cherished it, and NIGHT OF THE CRIME went on to become underground cult classic in the genre, and is widely considered by fans to be one of the greatest Melodic Rock albums ever made. It was voted the 3rd best AOR album of all time by Kerrang! magazine. Icon soldiered on for a several more years with a couple more releases featuring different singers and lineups, but none of them matched the musical greatness and momentum they had achieved with NIGHT OF THE CRIME. The group eventually disbanded and went their separate ways for many years, working on other musical projects (guitarist Dan Wexler, in particular, wrote and recorded with fellow Phoenix native Alice Cooper for his The Last Temptation album). In August 2008, Icon celebrated their reunion with a re-issue of a 1984 Bootleg Concert on DVD. Original members Wexler, Aquilino and Dixon, along with former member Dave Henzerling and new singer Scott Hammons had plans to record new material potentially for a new album. The following year, Hammons decided to pursue a solo career and was replaced with former Adlers Appetite vocalist Sheldon Tarsha. Previous plans to record new songs—possibly for a new album—still exist. However, Tarsha has also now left the band and original singer Stephen Clifford has re-entered the picture. For todays song selection, going with one of many faves off of NIGHT OF THE CRIME, (Take Another) Shot at My Heart. A tune that perfectly captures the era it was written in, yet still holds up today. It features a nice juxtaposition between the clean guitar parts that open the song, and the much heavier ones which follow. If you like the music from this era, but never heard this album, its well worth seeking out. youtu.be/KQuUSEqIVJc
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 14:08:23 +0000
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