a l b u m r e v i e w s


KEN TAMPLIN / BRAVE DAYS OF OLD
LABEL: Z RECORDS
OVERALL: 83%
Produced by: Ken Tamplin
  1. Never Stop
  2. Radio Bikini
  3. Don't Let The Sky
  4. I Just Want To Celebrate
  5. You Never Give Up
  6. Borderline
  7. Cry Just A Little
  8. Hard Times
  9. AD/BC
  10. Straight Between The Eyes
  11. Living For My Lord
  12. Testify
  13. Freeride
I must admit to being quite a fan of Ken Tamplin and Shout, but it is several years since my last Tamplin purchase - mainly due to the fact his records have been a spread over several small labels and a little hard to find.
So thanks to Z for bringing Ken back into this AOR community we have.
For those unfamiliar with Ken Tamplin or his band Shout, he is a Christian singer/songwriter than can play just about every known instrument and specializes in big production and over the top melodic hard rock, mixed with some of the biggest vocals know to man.
I was curious to see how the tracks would hold up, being that some are 10 years old.
There is a couple of occasions where they date a little - the keyboard usage a little over blown - but for the most part, this is a great collection of tunes.
I still fondly regard tracks like Borderline, Never Stop, You Never Give Up and especially the cool anthem rocker Radio Bikini. Does anyone have bigger baking vocals than Ken Tamplin? Possibly not. So this is a bridge release, keeping us happy while the guys finish off the new Shout record.
BOTTOM LINE: A good collection for Tamplin fans and a beauty for those who would like to check the guy out. This is a gathering of his best work - solo and collaboratory.
PRODUCTION: 75%SONGS: 85%VIBE: 80%ATTITUDE: 85%
ESSENTIAL FOR: New and old Ken Tamplin & Shout fans. Christian rock fans.
DISCOGRAPHY: www.kentamplin.com/disco.html

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