Style: hard rock, AOR
Label: Wounded Bird Records
Year: 1985
Home: New Jersey
Members: Joe Lynn Turner ~ vocals
Al Greenwood ~ keyboards
Bobby Messano ~ guitar/bass/b. vocals
Chuck Burgi ~ drums
JLT came out from Rainbow with his first stop his solo debut Rescue You. It had a modest MTV hit with "Endlessly", but not much critical response & wouldn't be given a follow-up until 1995. Though, by then, JLT's prolific work as a session musician would put thirty albums on his resume. By the time of his second solo album he'd built up lots of studio experience with an array of musical styles, had some new writings partners, let alone moved away from the shadow of Rainbow both musically & personally. On Rescue You most of the tracks were co-written by keyboardist Al Greenwood, formerly of Foreigner. The outcome echoes of Foreigner (i.e. "Losing You", "Endlessly") with embarrassing abandon. Part of it is the now dated sounding stabs of keyboards that take prominent ground over the guitars which are lost in the mix at times. It has a very 80's AOR sheen, though considering he'd just worked with guitar demon Ritchie Blackmore it's probably better that he stayed away from guitar heavy music for the moment. Sadly, the album doesn't have a kick. The material sounds too dated & too weak & definitely too repetitious in its feeling & style to ever truly rise. But, JLT shines above it with a great range of vocal nuances. Though, on first listen one is liable not to hear anything but JLT's voice falling into the generic music & not out from under it. Thus, on one hand, this is not the best JLT album to recommend as its not a strong album musically, later albums would often bring in multiple songwriters to their benefit, but his voice is rich & enjoyable once one gets past the 80's sheen. Actually, on the second half of the album it's incredibly nuanced & you can feel him putting his whole body into the notes riding it forward like a boxer. Let alone the man is pitch & tone perfect as always. There's a reason he's a prolific session backing vocalist & its not just due to self-promotion. In many ways I'm reminded of Michael Bolton's first few albums, when he was still a guitar playing rocker. He sings his heart out but the material just isn't there & too much time spend on radio friendly love ballads. JLT has the same problem. But, this isn't so bad of a first step out into the great solo unknown, though its obvious why it didn't have a bigger impact. JLT fans should pick up this first release if they're at all interested in his career & anyone else probably won't regret it too much. Anyways, it is Al Greenwood of ... Foreigner, not just any old keyboardist.
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