This legendary album has been repackaged in various forms over the years, but never more extensively and yes, lovingly, than this Rock
Candy reissue.
It's been fully remastered and reloaded with 2 bonus tracks, a 12 page colour booklet and a 3000 word essay, which, I'm delighted to see, has been written by my former Fireworks' Magazine colleague, Dave Cockett.
The recording's iconic status is no small way due to the band's guiding light, songwriter and keyboard player, Mark Mangold.
Arguably, his vision of slick, commercial pomp rock came out of his experiences in various bands (including American Tears) starting back in the late sixties. These were more open minded times, where experimentation and cutting against the establishment grain was considered de rigueur for rock bands.
And so in 1980, under new management, after several line up changes, band names changes and label changes,
Touch - Mark Mangold, Craig Brooks, Doug Howard and Glenn Kithcart - made their indelible mark on the face of
AOR with a truly mesmerising point of entry.
Mangold has described his earlier work almost as 'symphonic rock'. But '
Touch' the album is never operatic in tone. In fact, there's not an ounce of fat on this music. It's sleek, athletic and light on its feet, with just enough constructed around each gorgeous melody to make it work.
The band's 3 part harmonies are in full flight on openers
'Don't You Know What Love Is' and
'When The Spirit Moves Me'. The former gets the plaudits, but it's the latter that really defines the band. It sparkles and shines. Mangold's keyboards dance and prance all over the track without putting a foot wrong. The harmonies dip and soar, leading into an instantly memorable hook, with a winning pop song sensibility.
Though it's Mangold's emphatically pomp rock keyboard style that gets noticed, all of these songs are created within a rock guitar framework. The spare, impatient riffing and soloing on
'Black Star' and
'There's a Light' vividly illustrate what Craig Brooks brought to the table.
'So High' brings sophistication and
'Last Chance For Love' shows they hadn't forgotten how to rock'n'roll.
Bonuses come in the form of
'My Life Depends On You', a track left off the original US release of the album, and a live version of '
Don't You Know What Love Is' from 1980.
Essentially, this release is a tribute to a time when great
AOR bands like
Touch, without realising it, helped write the pomp rock script for a whole new generation of bands (and fans).
Wonderful stuff.
Written by
Brian Wednesday, July 23, 2008
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