Customer Reviews

Alannah Myles

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I sure miss the mature, rockin' talented women of the 70's, 80's to late 80's ( Heart and Pat Benatar specifically).These gals could belt out with the vocals and their wild feminine charms without ever becoming sugar coated caricatures of pop music...

Then,Myles shows up to prove that they still existed towards the closing of the 80's.After Alannah's explosive chart topping album from '89 it seemed she was destined for more success.After the Black Velvet hit, she released a couple of lesser well known and harshly critiqued albums...

Alannah Myles debut, containing Black Velvet ,showcased her as a sexy rock n' roll siren with sultry throaty vocals without coming across as dry sandpaper but rather smooth silk. There were no filler tracks or songs penned at the last minute. Each song, while collectively they worked together, had it's own unique flavor...

With a hard rock bluesy guitar that later isn't a bad imitation of early ZZ Top, and a rousing cry in that rough voice of hers, kind of a more refined variation on Joan Jett, Alannah Myles kicks off her debut album with "Still Got This Thing For You."

That's followed by the second single, "Love Is", which is punctuated by a throbbing bass and a 80's hard-rock guitar. Here's how she defines love: "Love is ( love is )/Heaven to the lonely/Show me/What you want me to do/Cause love is/What I got for you"

The slow bluesy "Black Velvet", with more of that punctuated bass, is of course, hands down, the best song here, and the one that topped the charts in 1990. Who can forget that chorus: "Black velvet and that little boy's smile/Black velvet with that slow southern style/A new religion that'll bring ya to your knees/Black velvet if you please." There's another lyric that's visually cool: "The sun is settin' like molasses in the sky." However, don't let naysayers tell you she was a one-hit wonder. There's more great stuff on this album and on her followup, the more melancholy Rockinghorse.

"Rock This Joint" is the hardest rocking song here even replete with Def Leppard-like backup vocals. There is a slight nod to "Pour Some Sugar On Me" while that ZZ Top-like guitar plays. She wants to rock the joint to the point that, "I wanna die with a smile on my face."

That is followed by the first ballad and third single, "Lover Of Mine" which deserved a place in the Top Ten at the very least. Her voice when smooth, shows she has slow-song talents. The chorus and guitar at the end puts shifts into minor power ballad mode.

The mid-paced "Kick Start My Heart" has shades of New Jersey-era Bon Jovi, specifically "Bad Medicine" down to the synthesizer, horns, and guitar. Not to be confused with the Motley Crue song of the same period, of course.

The engaging "If You Want To" has a rhythm reminiscent of Rod Stewart's "Hot Legs" but again plays with the Bon Jovi sound and hard-edged guitar.

"Who Loves You" is the other ballad here, mellow in the verses with Ann Wilson vocals before launching into her hard-edged guitar in the chorus. The blues ditty "Hurry Make Love" urges her lover to do the title act instead of watching TV.

Smoky, hard-edged, bluesy, gentle in ballads, Alannah Myles' eponymous debut deserves revisiting for unique tough and tender female vocalists. Alannah Myles,... if you please.

when I first heard black velvet I had no idea who it was so I asked my nephew, it took awhile to find the cd but I finally did but was it ever worth it, I love every song on it, she has a fablous voice.

I first heard of Alannah Myles by hearing Black Velvet on the radio. I loved the song. A friend loaned me the CD, and I was surprised to hear that most of the songs are hard, raunchy rock! I soon bought my own copy of the CD, and play it a lot. Also like the next CDs, Rockinghorse and Alannah. .Alannah Myles should be a lot better known than she is.

Alannah Myles is thirty-nine minutes and nineteen seconds and was released on January 1, 1989. Her self titled debut album reached #5 on the U.S. Billboard 200 Album chart and went Platinum. Black Velvet won a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Performance in 1989. Four songs were released from the album and only two charted in the United States. The music is in the style of Canadian country rock. Her voice sounds like a female Rod Stewart. Still I did like the music on the cassette and I am giving Alannah Myles an AA++.

Side One

Still Got this Thing
Love Is
#36 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles
#19 U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks
Black Velvet
#1 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles (two weeks at #1)
#1 U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks (two weeks at #1)
#7 U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary
#1 U.S. Billboard ARC Weekly Top 40 (two weeks at #1)
#1 U.S. Cash Box Magazine Top Singles (two weeks at #1)
Rock this Joint
Lover of Mine

Side Two

Kick Start My Heart
If You Want To
Just One Kiss
Who Loves You
Hurray Make Love

This is a great female rock album. Alanah delivers rock on this album that is definitely hard at times, but never turns into just loud noise. Quite the contrary, the album is full of good rock tunes. Alanah's voice is powerful and with the right attitude. The album starts out strong, rocking with Still Got This Thing, Love Is, and Black Velvet. Rock This Joint is a bit commonplace. Lover of Mine shows Alanah can do a softer, slower tune. The album gets hard again with Kick Start My Heart and If You Want To. Some mellower tunes close the album. Excellent stuff. Where's Alanah now?

I really enjoyed listening to this album a long time ago - enough to replace my worn out tape with a CD. I like every track on it and its refreshing to find an album that lives up to the standard and the promise of the first released track. If you're looking for a really raunchy rock CD, this has to be it. All I can say is - what happened to Alannah Myles after this?

Item arrived quickly. Was a used CD, so the product is not perfect, but it shows the wonderful style and voice of the artist. The song I really wanted is in good shape. I am satisfied.

When I first saw the video for Alannah's hit "Black Velvet" I knew she had something special about her. Her big black unfortunate hair, her tight leather skirts, the way she slithered all over the stage, I just knew she had a bit of Benatar in her. So I ran out and bought this album the minute I could get to a record store.

For the past umpteen years, this album still puts a smile on my face, and I was right, the bulk of the album is actually straight up rock and roll with a tad of blues tinged fun thrown in.

Of course Alannah remains fairly under the radar as her only big hit here is the "Black Velvet" scorchy ballady rock song; but the album opens with a real rocker, "Still Got This Thing" and keeps going with ups and downs of rock chunk and funk; "Love Is" was a follow up single that didn't do much, same with the one real ballad on here, "Lover Of Mine", which downs Alannah's normally scratchy scath for an upper register and it really touches you, "Why does it feel like I'm losing you?", of course the guitars kick in as does Alannah's soul. It's really great.

But nothing compared to the straight up rock of the rest of the cuts starting with "Kick Start My Heart" which would make someone like Great White proud; the pop influences with hooks are all over "Just One Kiss" and "If You Want To" until ending with the countrified blues of "Hurry Make Love."

This really is one of my favorite albums and I always felt had she thrown another album out right away instead of waiting 3 years, she could've been the Benatar of the 90's. Oh well this debut album did debut at #1 in her native Canada and I think that was pretty impressive at the time.

Sung by an excellent blues singer. Allana has an authenticity to her voice that makes her a true blues singer. I especially enjoy the classic "Black Velvet" which is the reason I purchased the CD.