M A S T
E D O N
80's melodic rock band led by the Elefante brothers.
Mastedon - It's a Jungle
Out There (Regency
Music) 1989
1. "It's a Jungle Out There" (3:54)
2. "Glory Bound" (4:17)
3. "This is the Day" (4:14)
4. "Love Inhalation" (4:39)
5. "Islands in the Sky" (3:42)
6. "Get Up" (4:00)
7. "Love that Will Survive" (4:02)
8. "Innocent Girl" (3:42)
9. "Shine On" (4:24)
10. "Right Hand" (6:05)
To many fans of melodic hard rock and metal, this CD is nothing short of a masterpiece. I can't say that I disagree with them. Mastedon is excellent, glossy, melodic hard rock/metal with big hooks and great production. Headed by the Elefante brothers, John and Dino manage to bring in a heavy does of 1970's influence to this largely 1980's style rock. Some of the songs have a Kansas feel to them, especially in the way the keyboards were used. I guees this shouldn't be surprising as John Elefante was a part of Kansas for a spell. There are also some obvious similarities to Petra. Again, this isn't surprsing as the Elephante brothers were a huge part of that band's success as producers. Actually, songs like "Get Up" amd "Love that Will Survive", with their big AOR hooks and pop melodies would have fit equally as well on Petra's "On Fire!" or "Beyond Belief" albums. The opening track is probably my favorite as it features the scratchy vocals of X-Sinner vocalist David Robins. It is also one of the harder rocking tracks on the CD, along with the scorching "Love Inhilation". One thing that really works well for this CD is the mix of different vocalists. Each of the five vocalists featured on the album are all perfect for the songs they were chosen for. This is another one of those albums that could have dominated the air waves had it been given the proper marketing and distribution.
I bought this album as a new release on cassette and played the thing til the tape wore out. I then made the stupid decision to purchase a second tape, instead of a CD when they were still avaialable.
Mastedon - LOFCAUDIO (Pakaderm/A&M) 1990
1. "Holiest One"
(4:50)
2. "Life on the Line" (4:25)
3. "Run to the Water" (4:30)
4. "When it All Comes Down" (4:30)
5. "Taken Down Below" (4:33)
6. "Stampede" (2:27)
7. "Living for You" (4:16)
8. "Thief in the Night" (2:47)
9. "People of this Time" (4:54)
10. "It Is Done" (3:43)
Smooth 80's melodic rock from the brothers Elephante. I was a fan of their first album when it came out in '89. When this disc was released, however, I was in a thrash metal mode and didn't give an ear to the smooth, Kansas influenced tones of "LOCAUDIO". However, in recent years I have been listening to more and more of this type of music. There is no denying how good songs like "Holiest One" and "It Is Done" are. Had this disc had some more push in the mainstream market, either of these songs could have been Top 10 radio hits. It's a shame that this CD is so hard to find today because it really is an excellent disc. Unfortunately this in one of the more expensive CDs on eBay right now with an average price of around $35-$50. This disc features a host of guest artists including Bob Carlisle (Alies) and Tony Palacios (Guardian). The vocals are performed by a variety of singers including Dave Amato, Tom Bowes, Dean Longacre and John Elefante. Of the vocalists John is my favorite and I sort of wish he would have just sang on the entire disc. (Thanks again Arttie.)
It was asked of me once, "what does the LOFC of LOFCaudio stand for?" Since I didn't know the answer to the question I went to the web for the answer and came up with a few interesting probabilities. I don't know if any of these are true, but it's interesting nonetheless. As for myself, I never thought about it at all.
1. 'It could stand for "Love OF Christ" or "Life Offered For Christ" or
something similar.2. Another suggestion was, "Line OF Communication."
3. "Lights Out For California". (Note the picture of what looks to be a big city (California?) with the lights out.)
4. And finally, Lofcaudio is the name of a character in a kid's book about a lion that could roar music.