Yet another blast from the blast from my past, this time courtesy of MTM and their reissue of the Paul Sabu album Heartbreak. This album was stunning twenty years ago when it first saw the light of day and with, to quote the press release, a big sound, with lots of depth, fat keyboards, blistering guitars and vocals combined with a great chorus. And you know what, for once a press release is spot on. The  other attraction with Heartbreak is that it is all great fun, and in fact my son took the piss when he caught me playing air guitar to 'Call Of The Wild' - how old am I again? 

Sabu’s guitar work is exceptional throughout and, as a vocalist, he is equally adept if you can overlook the fact he sounds rather like Sammy Hagar, so much so in fact Van Halen could get him to record their next album and nobody would notice.

But what about the songs? Well if Rick Springfield and Sammy Hagar are you’re thing you’ve come to the right place. Angeline is a brilliant opener, all great riffey guitars and excellent keyboards from Dan Ellis whilst 'Call Of The WIld' has hooks that could catch whales and of course a great guitar solo. 'Shake, Rattle, Roll' sounds like a reworking of Radar Love by Golden Earring and they rest of the album continues in much a similar vein. 

As an added bonus this reissue also features three tracks that weren’t on the original release and should, hopefully, stop the original going for silly money on e-bay ($180 was one price I saw quoted). So if mid 80’s AOR pop rock is your bag get this bought and just remember it was 1985.

Let us know your views on 'Heartbreak'

Track List

Angeline
Call Of The Wild
Shake, Rattle, Roll
Just For The Moment
Hot Flash
Heartbreak
Tuff Stuff
Still Alive
Breakin' Out
New Girl In Town
Cassie
Shake It Out
Street Angel

Line Up

Paul Sabu - Vocals/Guitar/
Dan Ellis - Keyboards
Charles J Esposito - Drums
Rick Bozzo - Bass