Like the Ark of the Covenant, it appeared that Don Barnes’, 1989 solo album Ride The Storm would never see the light of day.  Buried during a buyout of A&M Records, the album was shelved and the then former (now again current) lead singer of .38 Special could do nothing to get the new company to release it.  The album has appeared sporadically over the ensuing years, most recently as a download on a site created by Barnes in the early 2000’s just so people could finally hear it.

How an album finally gets an official physical release almost 30 years after  the fact is nothing short of amazing.  Released on Melodic Rock Records, a subsidiary of the Melodic Rock website http://www.melodicrock.com , the album comes with two mixes.  The second disk is the original mix from 1989 along with some bonus tracks.  The first disk though is the revelation.  Whereas the original mixes are very flat, the new mix done for this release make the album sound new again.  It’s hard to overcome an issue like the passage of time!  The way albums were recorded back in the 80s is very different from today, also the way an album was produced changes as musical tastes change.  I recently read a discussion about the production done on GTR’s one and only studio disk.  One band member said that to his ears the final product was unlistenable and the producer said he was going for the sound of the time.

Not that this album in the original state is unlistenable, it’s just not remarkable and just feels like it’s just holding back.  One wonders if that was part of the reason it was never released in 1989 (or later). Perhaps there was too much work needed to be done to the original mixes and the new record company was not about to pay for a product it didn’t support. Or was the album already dated in 1989?

Besides Barnes, who in addition to lead vocals plays guitar on the album, there is a who’s-who list of top notch players on the album. Co-writer, and producer Martin Briley also contributes keyboard work (some VERY dated sounding), Dann Huff and Alan Pasqua of Giant (the band) contribute guitar and keys and the Pocaro brothers, Jeff and Mike, from Toto are on drums and bass.

The rating of this cd is based on the new mix.  Overall it is pure AOR, forgoing the Southern Rock-ish beats of .38 Special. Kicking off with rocker title track ‘Ride The Storm’ the album starts powerful. Screaming guitars from Dann Huff are the highlight along with Barnes strong vocal. “Looking for You” follows with a slower pace, more pop song than rock.  The keyboards are yelling ” it’s 1985!!!” even though it wasn’t.  Perhaps that’s the albums greatest reason it hasn’t been heard until now.  The overall sound is very mid-80s.  By 1989 when it was recorded this type of album was already a dinosaur.  Even one year prior four major AOR artists released albums that all bombed. Albums by Kansas, Night Ranger, Survivor and Dennis DeYoung failed to chart anything close to respectable.  And even though Barnes former band had a HUGE hit with “Second Chance” in 1988, the album which it came from Rock and Roll Strategy did not sell well. This was the high time of hair metal and AOR acts didn’t stand a chance.

“I Fall Back” comes next and sounds like it could easily have been in any 80s teen coming of age movie.  It’s very polished. “Don’t Look Down” and “Maybe You’ll Believe Me Now” slow things down slightly but with a more rock edge.  Both have decent choruses. “Everytime We Say Goodbye” continues the upbeat songs with a big chorus and is definitely more singalong than some of the others. Next comes a cover of the Chicago hit “Feelin’ Stronger Everyday’.  The song is good, not much different than Chicago’s, maybe a little more boogie guitar that gives it more of a .38 Special sound, but Barnes doesn’t really make it his own.

The album ends strongly with two up tempo rockers “After The Way” and ‘Johnny Ain’t So Cool’.  Although I probably would have flip-flopped the order and ended the album with the stronger “After The Way” but that’s just nitpicking, although I thought Johnny’s lyrics were a little silly.

Kudos to Andrew @ melodicrock.com for finally getting this a proper release.  If you’re a fan of AOR music it’s a must buy.