THE RICHIE ZITO PROJECT: Avalon

Cover	Release	Style
	2006-09-22	melodic rock / aor
	Label
	http://www.frontiers.it
	Website

	Contact
	-
	Playing Time	Cat. N°
	53:35	FR CD 303
	Review by	Rating
	Reggie	7/10
nederlands	Review
Richie Zito is one of those musicians that made a name for themselves by being involved in a thousand different projects. In his long career, he has been a session guitarist (Art Garfunkel, Barbara Streisand, Beach Boys, Diana Ross, Tina Turner,…), a producer (Mr. Big, Tyketto,…) and a band member (Elton John). And these are only a few names of the people he had the pleasure to work with. In spite of all his work, Avalon is his first solo project. He gathered a lot of singers and musicians for this project, and they’re all friends of his. I must say that, unlike the vocalists, the musicians on the album are mostly unknown to me. Only Gregg Bissonette is famous for his work with David Lee Roth, Toto and Ringo Starr, amongst others. Avalon is a collection of aor-songs, written and produced by Zito himself. Most of them sound really good, like “Good Things Take Time” (sung by Philip Bardowell from The Beach Boys), “Is He Better Than Me” (sung by Joe Lynn Turner) and “I Put My Life In Your Hands” (with the voice of Eddie Money). These are all top-notch aor songs. The ballads are first-class too, with “Oh Samantha” and “I Don’t Want To Want You” being the best examples (respectively sung by Joseph Williams from Toto and Eric Martin from Mr. Big). The album sounds great, and Richie Zito’s experience with producing an album really show. All in all a great collection of aor material. The genre is making a little comeback at the moment, with great aor bands reforming and old projects being finished: “Sunstorm”, “John Waite” and “Pride Of Lions” are some of the most recent examples. Avalon certainly is a great addition to the library of any melodic rock fan, but only if you like typical 80’s aor music.
Musicians
Richie Zito: Guitars, Bass, Synthesizer, Mandolin Tommy Decker: Drums Greg Bissonette: Drums Jason Turbin: Strings Joey Carbone: Piano Marcus Browne: Additional Keyboards Lead Vocals: Hugo Valenti, Joe Lynn Turner, Eddie Money, Joseph Williams, Danny Vaughn, Eric Martin, Giorgio Moroder, Richie Kotzen, Philip Bardowell, Eric Martin Background Vocals: Davey Duke, Ken Pacheco
Tracklist
Blue Collar (4:01) Is He Better Than Me (4:38) Nightmare (4:47) Oh Samantha (4:28) Avalon (5:17) Life Got In The Way (4:39) Blue Monday (4:43) Forever I Will (4:23) I Can’t Forget You (3:56) I Put My Life In Your Hands (4:22) Good Things Take Time (3:34) I Don’t Want To Want You (4:42)
Discography
Today's Report (1999) Imaginary Friends (2001) Last Epic (2003)


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