Many years ago I bought a copy of ‘M.U. – The Bets of Jethro Tull’ but was extremely aggravated by having to do so. The reason was that at the time I was an avid Tull fan, and was annoyed that there was one song on the collection which wasn’t available elsewhere, “Rainbow Blues”. Now, I would have bought it anyway, but this really irked me (and still does, forty years later!). Now, there have recently been anniversary reissues of the three Phenomena albums, all with loads of information and really well presented, and here we now have an anthology. Given the title, I expected to find songs taken from the three albums, and while that is indeed the case we also have other songs which are either rare or previously unreleased. Although details are provided on who played what, there is no information as to where each song has been sourced from, and it is only because I have the other releases that I know something about the project.
It feels like an opportunity lost, as there are undoubtedly some fine songs on here including of course “Did It For All Love” which features great vocals from John Wetton and could have easily have come from the debut Asia album (it actually comes from ‘Phenomena II – Dream Runner’). I am somewhat confused as to who this is aimed at, as anyone who already has the other albums will be somewhat annoyed the few additional songs weren’t added onto the original sets (the longest of which is just 46 minutes), but anyone coming to the project without knowing those has no information whatsoever to explain what is happening.
All of this takes away from what is essentially an interesting collection of Eighties style melodic rock numbers featuring some real heavyweights of the genre. Glenn Hughes may not have been singing at his best back then, but his voice even when stressed is so much than many singers can ever manage, while Neil Murray is such a professional he probably has no idea how many albums he has played on, while Cozy Powell performed on one or two as well. “Hearts On Fire” is singalong anthemic fun, as are many of the others, but it would be better to pick up the other reissues and then come to this if you really need the additional material. Still a nice album though, just not well thought out.
This 25TH ANNIVERSARY compilation has been fully endorsed by Tom Galley, who personally compiled the track list.
Anthology features the special guests: Glenn Hughes John Wetton Brian May Cozy Powell Mel Galley Neil Murray Ric Sanders John Thomas Ted McKenna Keith Murrell
This BEST OF compilation features the #1 HIT SINGLE ‘Did It All For Love’ sung by John Wetton.
This compilation also features final mixes of the RARE tracks ‘Assassins in the Night’, ‘Running with the Pack’ and ‘Stealing Heaven’.
The rare 12” Remix of ‘Did It All For Love’ is included along with a PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED 12” Remix of ‘Still The Night’.
1. Still the Night 2. Dance with the Devil 3. Phoenix Rising 4. Assassins of the Night 5. Running with the Pack 6. Stop! 7. Did It All for Love 8. Hearts on Fire 9. Banzai (Single Edit) 10. What About Love 11. If You Want to Rock 12. How Much Do You Love Me? 13. Stealing Heaven 14. Did It All for Love (12″ Remix) 15. Still the Night (12″ Remix)
Featuring Glenn Hughes, Brian May, John Wetton, Mel Galley, Don Airey, Cozy Powell & Others!
London – Phenomena is a rock music concept conceived by record producer Tom Galley and brother, Whitesnake guitarist Mel Galley and directed by Wilfried Rimensberger. Contributors were leading rock musicians such as Brian May, John Wetton, Glenn Hughes, Don Airey, Mel Galley, Neil Murray and Cozy Powell amongst others.
Phenomena’s production of rock songs based on a story line running through a whole album, attached to artworks and other multi-media aspects was credited for the “return of the concept album” in the 1980s. Phenomena released three albums in the 1980s and early 1990s, and had a number one hit single in South America with “Did It All For Love,” while the album charted across Europe, in Japan and Brazil.
The creator of Phenomena, Tom Galley, said of the re-releases: “I’m happy to see the release of these original recordings. And being in touch with the involved artists, I know they are looking forward to see this happening too. Together with previously never seen material the 3 albums are well presented.”
The promo video, produced by Wilfried Rimensberger, for the #1 hit single “Did It All For Love” is on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Ir4zpL4xh78
PHENOMENA 1
“Phenomena” is an all-star million selling album from 1985, created by Tom Galley, and features:
Glenn Hughes
Cozy Powell
Mel Galley
Neil Murray
Don Airey
Ric Sanders
John Thomas
Ted McKenna
This DEFINITIVE EDITION has received 2018 remaster and the booklet features new liner notes, including new comments from Tom Galley, who has provided the newly written track by track descriptions.
PHENOMENA 2
“Phenomena II – Dream Runner” is from 1987, created by Tom Galley, and features the HIT SINGLE “DID IT ALL FOR LOVE” which was a #1 across South America, along with artists:
John Wetton
Glenn Hughes
Mel Galley
Neil Murray
Ray Gillen
Max Bacon
Richard Bailey
Michael Sturgis
Scott Gorham
Toshihiro Niimi
John Thomas
Kyoji Yamamoto
Leif Johansen
The booklet features new liner notes, including new comments from Tom Galley, along with alternative artwork and rare pictures. Album Cover by Tim Davies (Tim Elcoch).
PHENOMENA 3
“Phenomena III – Innervision” from 1993 completes the all-star Phenomena trilogy, as created by Tom Galley, and features:
Brian May
Scott Gorham
Michael Sturgis
Keith Murrell
Leif Johansen
The booklet features new liner notes, including new comments from Tom Galley, who has supplied the originally intended front cover artwork, which appears for the FIRST TIME EVER!
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