Wednesday, September 16, 2015

FAR CRY - The More Things Change... [Japanese CD edition] (1980-2001)

FAR CRY - The More Things Change... [Japanese CD edition] (1980-2001) front
Requested in "REQUEST & FILL CORNER" section...

FAR CRY was the studio project of New Yorker Phil Galdston and Canadian Peter Thom who worked together during the Seventies when recording companies used to hire 'songwriter artists'. Some of their penned tunes were pretty successful, and they got an album deal releasing the LP American Gypsies as Galdston & Thom in the second half of that decade.
The album passed without notice, however the music industry does not lose the faith in the duo's potential.

Giant executive Phil Ramone called his alumni Elliot Scheiner (later involved in Michael Bolton's Everybody's Crazy, Toto's IV, et all) to produce Galdston & Thom second effort, now under the Far Cry moniker.
This time all would be under the 'high profile production standards', with a big budget at hand and top session musicians contributing, including guitarists Mark Doyle, Elliott Randall, shuffle master Bernard 'Pretty' Purdie on drums, Donald Fagen on backing vocals & more.

Far Cry's one and only album was entitled "The More Things Change...", and basically comprises the early '80s smooth melodies of those years rising West Coast style: FM ready, melodic, poppy at times and plenty of sweet harmonies.
This is the kind of records from that time where all was done clinically and with extreme attention to detail: arrangements, playing, production.
Session guitarist Mark Doyle recalls; "Producer Elliot Scheiner had four different guitar players in for a solo, punching in each note, even using combinations of different players for the same solo. I couldn't get more than two bars into it before I would be stopped, hummed some phrase, punched in, hummed some other phrase, etc." Well, Mutt Lange later perfected this with Def Leppard, but that's another story.
This example provide you an idea of how "The More Things Change..." sounds: perfect.

FAR CRY - The More Things Change... [Japanese CD edition] (1980-2001) back

Musically, Far Cry's "The More Things Change..." never turned me crazy about it. It's a very nice record with some really cool songs and melodies, but not a classic at all.
The album was pressed on CD for the first time in 2001, only released in Japan and now out of print. This is a HQ rip from the CD including artwork. A collectors item.


01 - The Hits Just Keep On Comin'
02 - Eldorado Escape
03 - The One And Lonely
04 - Because It's There
05 - It's Not As Simple As That
06 - Fight, Fight, Fight
07 - Ocean Eyes
08 - Suddenly Strings
09 - Tell Jack
10 - Some Things Will Never Change

Lead & Backing Vocals: Peter Thom
Lead & Backing Vocals, Piano: Phil Galdston
Guitars: Elliott Randall, Steve Khan, Mark Doyle, Jeff Mironov
Keyboards, Synths: Rob Mounsey
Bass: Tony Levin, Neil Jason, Will Lee, Doug Stegmeyer
Drums: Chris Parker, Bernard Purdie, Ed Greene, Liberty DeVitto
Percussion: Ralph MacDonald
Horns: Marvin Stamm, Randy Brecker, Timmy Cappello, Ronnie Cuber, David Tofani, Barry Rogers
Backing Vocals: Donald Fagen, Patti Austin, John Barranco, Zachary Sanders, Frank Floyd




FAR CRY The More Things Change [Japanese CD edition]
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2 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Love this. Thanks for introducing me to this album.

Anonymous said...

it was such a shanda - I should never buy gribenes from a mohel thank you very much.