The Scrounger's Report

May 16, 1999

Not a bad week, musically speaking.

Between various and sundry trades, and hitting a couple
of local pawn shops, I happened to get a bunch of interesting
stuff...not all good, and not all bad.

Glen Burtnick - Heroes and Zeroes. 1987. A&M Records.
   Already have this one, so I picked this up for my
   trade list. Figure someone out there will need it.

David T. Chastain - Within the Heat. 1989. Leviathan Records
   Haven't listened to it yet. It's an instrumental album.

Various Artists - Glasnost. 1988. MCA Records
   Really only worth it as a curiosity. Technologically,
   the music scene in the Soviet Union was quite primitive
   compared to the western world, and this disc shows it.
   Does anyone know if the group "Autograph" that does two
   of the tracks is the same as the Russian "Autograf" which
   released "Tear Down the Border"? Rating: 65%

Phil Naro - Ten Year Tour. 1999. Interplanet Records (Canada)
   AOR that is musically solid, but the lead vocals are just
   a little "off", imo. Fairly laid back stuff. Rating: 75%

Agony Column - Brave Words and Bloody Knuckles.
   1990. Metal Blade Records
   Album title sound familiar? I thought so. This is heavy
   metal; a blend of Manowar and Jackyl. Rating: 78%

Noiseworks - Love Versus Money. 1991. Columbia.
   Poppy, poppy, poppy. Not as AORish as the S/T, but
   not bad. Rating: 77%

John Waite - Rover's Return. 1987. EMI Records
   I'd passed this up about a year ago, so when I spotted
   it for $4, I figured I should get it. I'm not overly
   a fan of John Waite's voice, but the completist in me
   said I should get it. Rating: 78%

Saga - Saga. 1978. Polydor (Germany)
   Quite a bit more "proggy" than their later material.
   It appears to be out-of-print. Rating: 80%

Laura Branigan - Branigan. 1982. Atlantic Records
   Everyone knows the song "Gloria". For $5 I had to snag
   it, especially considering it's an original pressing
   made in Germany for the U.S. market. Rating: 80%

Soundtrack - Nothing But Trouble. 1991. Warner Brothers
   Basically, this is a single. I bought it for one
   track that's not available elsewhere: "Bonestripper"
   by Damned Yankees. The rest of the songs are worthless.
   Rating: 80%

Lee Aaron - Lee Aaron. 1984. Attic Records (Germany)
   I see people talking about her stuff from time to time,
   but this is the first time I'd seen one of her discs.
   Pat Benatar, with a heavier edge. Rating: 81%

Air Supply - Hearts in Motion. 1986. Arista Records
   I'd never seen this particular Air Supply release on
   CD before, so of course I had to grab it. Not bad,
   although I don't recognize a single song on it. Rating: 82%

St. Warren - Honest Planet. 1992. World Records
   Can you say "minor label"? Sure, I knew you could.
   Paint-by-numbers hard rock, decent choruses. Rating: 83%

Contender - Fighting to Win. 1990. Refuge Records.
   More CCM Hard Rock. Stuff on this label is a bit tough
   to come by. Rating: 84%

David Zaffiro - The Other Side. 1989. Alarma Records
   I think this may complete my collection of his stuff
   (4 solo albums?). Formerly a member of Bloodgood, and
   a contributor to quite a few CCM hard rock/metal projects.
   I'll have to give a listen to all 4 CDs again, but I
   think this may be his best stuff. Rating: 88%

Dirty White Boy - Bad Reputation. 1990. Polygram Records
   I open this up and lo and behold it's none other than
   David Glen Eisley (Giuffria, Craig Goldy's Ritual)
   doing lead vox, so I pounced. Well worthwhile hard rock.
   Rating: 88%

Strangeways - Walk in the Fire. 1989. BMG/RCA
   This is a DAMNED good album! Good hooks, solid music.
   Rating: 89%

Idle Cure - 2nd Avenue. 1990. Frontline Records
Idle Cure - Breakaways. 1992. Frontline Records
   I've been wanting to complete a discography of these
   CCM hard rockers. All I have left is to now find the
   S/T from 1986. Anyone? Good hard rock with keys and
   good vocal harmonies. Rating: 90%

Various Artists - The Polygram Compact Discoverer. May 1987.
   Polygram Records. Promo only.
   I wish I could find more in this series. I don't know
   if all of them were worthwhile, but this particular
   "edition" has a bunch of tracks from hard-to-find CDs:

    1. Tom Kimmel - That's Freedom
    2. Tom Kimmel - True Love
    3. Refugee - Survival in the Western World
    4. Refugee - Lay Me Down
    5. Swing Out Sister - Breakout
    6. Hunter - Dreams of Ordinary Men
    7. Jeff Paris - Saturday Night
    8. Jeff Paris - One Night Alone
    9. TNT - 10,000 Lovers in One
   10. The Mission U.K. - Severina
   11. iQ - No Love Lost
   12. Billy Branigan - Can't Luv You (remix version)
   13. Eight Seconds - Sincere (I Shall Return)
   14. Tony Macalpine - Tears of Sahara
   15. "Mystery Artist" - Hell, No!

   Rating: 86%

After listening to this sampler, I'm now looking for
the following CDs, if anyone can assist:

Hunter - Dreams of Ordinary Men (Aussie folks should be
         able to find this one, I'd think)

iQ - Nomzamo

Eight Seconds - Almacantar

That's all for now,

-Dan