Don. E. Vie equals
Donnie Vie, singer and songwriter from Enuff Z'Nuff, has released his second solo album. "This and That" is a fan release consisting of 4 brand new Don. E. Vie solo songs and 13 previously unreleased Enuff Z'Nuff demos written by Donnie. The demos are remastered, but most songs have a dark cassette sound to them.
The 4 Don. E. Vie solo songs don't blend that well with the rest of the songs, since these are new songs, while the Enuff Z'Nuff demos are from around 1986-1991. The highlight of the solo songs is
New Day, which is
a great melodic rock song with a very good hookline.
Wooken Pa Nub has a cheerful beat, but it's a bit polished.
If you know your
Donnie Vie history, you would be familiar with his hard times - compare
Misery, but Donnie finally found love.
Our Life is about his wife Joni and Donnie. It certainly wins with several listens, since the melody line is one of those you keep humming.
? is not particular cool and not up to usual
Donnie Vie standards.
Overall Donnie's solo material sounds polished with keyboard, where I would prefer just the basic guitars, bass and drums.
The early demos display the great potential of Enuff Z'Nuff. When hearing the songs you got to acknowledge Chip Z'Nuff of being a big part in the songs as well, since Chip and Donnie founded the band. These demos go all the way back to when Alex Kane was in the band. The pounding
Little Pigs is from that era. Therefore the sound quality is a bit weak on this one. However, the up-tempo
Little Pigs will satisfy any Enuff Z'Nuff fan.
I have had all these demos for years and were familiar with all of them before this release. I was excited about the inclusion of
Nothing, which is among my all time favorite Enuff Z'Nuff demo tunes. The extended chorus is fantastic and
Nothing could easily have been released officially. The only thing that bugs me is I have this song in a better sound quality.
No doubt Donnie is my all time favorite vocalist. His expressive vocals hold so much emotion and in
Misery you can feel Donnie's pain, when he belts out the chorus. It's another fantastic song that most bands would have been thankful to write.
Two songs that appeared on Enuff Z'Nuff official releases are featured in demo versions on "This and That". The demo version of
Fly High Michelle captures same emotion as the original. The keyboards are more up-front on the demo version. Originally featured on 1993's "Animals with human Intelligence"
Innocence was written in the studio mixing the "Strength" record. Donnie included this version to show people that not much had changed in the final version. Thank god for that. I remember getting the "Animals with Human intelligence" album and immediately
Innocence gave me shivers. The song has a great emotion and vibe to it.
From the amazing 1986-1987 demo sessions some really strong songs are featured.
So Fine displays Derek Frigo's influence on the band. His crunchy guitar is all over the track.
I Can't Get Over You is another hidden gem. The melody is so great and Donnie's emotional vocals breathe life to the song. Donnie's flair for smooth melodies is exemplified on
New Tonight and the melodic
No Girl Of Mine.
I have had most of the demos for many years, so I am very familiar with them. Of all the Enuff Z'Nuff demos I think they represent most of my favorite unreleased tracks, so it's a cool collection. However, I feel that "This and That" should have been released under the
Enuff Z'nuff moniker.
The audio quality is decent, but is marked by the original demos were soured from cassettes and then transferred to CD. However, you cannot repress great songs. These songs deserve not to be forgotten.
This release is exclusive for Dreamland Discs
www.dreamlanddiscs.com and only available through their web-site. A must have for any Enuff Z'Nuff fan.
Written by
Michael Monday, May 3, 2004
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