Battlecry

Origin: Hawai (USA)

BATTLECRY

Discography:

Red, white and blue - 1985

Notes:

- BATTLECRY was a Christian AOR band out of Hawai and their only release 'Red, white and blue' is seen as a classic AOR release by many fans of the genre. The album was a mini-LP that contained 6 tracks. Opener "Red, white and blue" shows that these guys were very good in performing classic AOR. This song is high-standard classic 80s AOR a la AVIATOR and some PROPHET during the chorus.

Next track "When the lord comes back" was slightly different in approach and dounded much lighter. It reminds me of a cross between ALLIES and the first STEVE PERRY. Next track "Not tough enough" is a nice cheerful uptempo AOR/Radiorocker like the second GIDEONS ARMY.

Side-b opens with "Life wih the lord", a great uptempo classic AOR rocker like a mix between JOURNEY, AVIATOR, early FM and early STRANGEWAYS. Especially the fantastic AOR keys a la JOURNEY and the AOR hooklines are making this song a winner for the true 80s AOR fans.

More classic AOR/Radiorock in the 80s tradition can be heard on the next track "Power and might". This song also captures a great melodic guitarsound. Closing track "You've got to know" is maybe the best track on this wonderful mini-LP. This is classic midtempo AOR like early FM/AVIATOR.

Concluded, this only mini-LP of BATTLECRY is a classic AOR release that should be in the collection of every fan of the genre. I believe it is hard to get and very expensive. But when you have it, you will know why this album is such a classic AOR album. A shame they never released more albums and never got signed to a major recordlabel, because they deserved it. -

(http://www.angelfire.com/ma/strutteraor/BATTLECRY.html)



- Apart from being a Christian act playing mid-eighties AOR, the particularity of BATTLECRY is their origin: the most recent of the 50 U.S. States, Hawaii. Anyway, the band commanded by singer Doug Morris moved to California and not only made a strong following among religious circles but also from secular audiences. Recorded and released independently, their now hard to find sole release “Red White And Blue” from 1985 incudes some lovable AOR tunes with a strong keyboard presence, nice melodies and good choruses.

You have marching tracks such as the Aviator-like title track “Red White And Blue” or the Journey-esque “Life With The Lord” plenty of synth fills and Neal Schon influenced guitar playing. More Melodic Rock / radio oriented is the sweet hookline in “Power And Might”, while the classic mid-tempo AOR styling of “You’ve Got To Know” somehow reminds me Steve Overland’s Wildlife or early FM. “When The Lord Comes Back” is the weakest track with some poppy Allies smell, but “Not Tough Enough” recaptures the melodic energy via cool guitar licks, swirling keys and easy choruses.

As you can read in the song titles lyrics are clearly religiously focused, but that does not bother at all. Songwriting is little naive at places, however these guy’s musicianship – and the gurl playing keyboards – is very good, as well production. “Red White And Blue” only was released on MiniLP & cassette…..A very nice slice of mid-’80s AOR. -

(http://melodic-hardrock.com/battlecry-red-white-blue-1985/)