Romeo’s Daughter – “Romeo’s Daughter” (RE-ISSUE) (2008)

Label : Rock Candy Records

Review by Tony Cannella

Back in the late 80s, it was impossible to pick up a copy of the (then) legendary U.K. magazine Kerrang!, without there being something in there about the British AOR rock outfit Romeo’s Daughter, particularly their gorgeous singer Leigh Matty who seemed to be in every issue (or just about). Before ever hearing them, if you were a reader of this magazine you already knew who they were. Their song “Heaven in the Backseat” was included on the soundtrack to the movie “A Nightmare on Elm Street, Part 5” and later covered by Eddie Money. The band released two albums in the late 80s/early 90s and have just recently re-formed. To commemorate their reformation, their two albums have received the re-issue, re-master treatment and both feature previously unreleased bonus material.

Much of the album is produced by Mutt Lange (along with John Parr) and that much is obvious on the opening track “Heaven in the Backseat”. It has that slick “Hysteria” style sound and background vocals that sound like they could have been performed by Def Leppard. Beyond that, Romeo’s Daughter’s debut is chock full of pop flavored AOR tunes like “Don’t Break My Heart”, “I Cry Myself to Sleep At Night”, “Wild Child” (which was covered by Heart on their “Brigade” album) and “Hymn (Look Through Golden Eyes)”. The re-issue includes three bonus live recordings of “Heaven in the Backseat”, “Velvet Tongue” and “I Cry Myself to Sleep at Night”. Mutt Lange produced so many of the 80s biggest albums that we forget that some bands just didn’t go on to global success, and Romeo’s Daughter is one of those bands that fell through the cracks, which is a shame, because I think based on the material on their two albums they should have been bigger than they were, but that’s only my opinion. Their slick pop AOR sound will not be for everyone, especially die-hard metal heads.

I have always liked Romeo’s Daughter and I am psyched that the band has decided to get back together. More importantly it is a great thing that their (small) catalogue has been made available once again. Sure their music may be on the pop side of things, but the songs are just so damn infectious and besides, you can’t bang your head all of the time, can you? Supposedly, Romeo’s Daughter is working on new material, which is good news for fans of melodic AOR rock.

Rating – 93/100

Tracklist

1. Heaven in the Backseat
2. Don’t Break My Heart
3. I Cry Myself to Sleep at Night
4. Wild Child
5. Hymn (Look Through Golden Eyes)
6. Velvet Tongue
7. Stay With Me Tonight
8. Inside Out
9. I Like What I See
10. Colour You a Smile
11. Heaven in the Back Seat (Live)
12. Velvet Tongue (Live)
13. I Cry Myself To Sleep At Night (Live)

Line Up

• Leigh Matty – Vocals
• Craig Joiner – Guitar and Background Vocals
• Anthony Mitman – Keyboards and Background Vocals
• Ed Poole – Bass
• Andy Wells – Drums

Links

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