Silver Condor was an Album Oriented Rock (AOR) band in the early 1980s. They released two albums, Silver Condor (1981) and Trouble at Home (1983). They made their only Billboard Hot 100 appearance with a track off their first album, “You Could Take My Heart Away,” which reached #32 in 1981.
The band’s line-up shifted considerably between their first and second albums, with lead singer Joe Cerisano being the only constant member. The first incarnation of the band also featured the renowned guitarist Earl Slick. The second album featured well-known bassist Kenny Aaronson as well as future Autograph frontman Steve Plunkett on rhythm guitar. (by wikipedia)
This is one of those underrated classics in the genre of early 80’s AOR/Radiorock. Not many people know of this record and the high quality of the music on it. SILVER CONDOR was formed by a bunch of New Yorkers who all had their success in different bands.
The leaders of the band were guitarist Earl Slick and vocalist Joe Cerisano. The latter had a brilliant voice that is similar to Michael Bolton (when he was into AOR and especially during his Blackjack time). Musically the radiorock was also in the same direction as Blackjack. Besides Earl and John also ex-Babys keyboardist/guitarist John Corey, drummer Claude Pepper (session player) and ex-Axis bassist Jay Davis completed the line-up of Silver Condor on their debut.
The album was produced by Mike Flicker (Heart) and they just couldn’t go wrong on their same titled debut album that was released in 1981 on CBS Records. Like I said this album is a classic in the genre of early 80’s AOR/Radiorock. A lot of comparisons can be made when listening to the 10 songs.
The first 3 songs are all classics. “For the sake of survival”, “Angel eyes” and “Sayin’ goodbye” are such terrific polished early 80’s uptempo aor/radiorockers and are all similar to acts like AXE, SHERBS, BALANCE, PREVIEW, JOURNEY, MAYDAY, early SURVIVOR, STEEL BREEZE… The songs have got it all, classy keys, beautiful and very melodic lead and harmonyvocals, great guitarsolo’s of Earl and those memorable choruses. Pure Radiorock that was very popular in the US about 15 years ago. It is easy to listen to and very suitable to play in your car.
After these 3 classics, we can hear a southern AOR ballad “Carolina” that is quite sounding like BLACKJACK. The closing track on side-A is “The one you left behind” and this is the classic Radiorocksound again. Side-B opens with “We’re in love” that carries a lot of the Dave Bickler SURVIVOR sound with it. Classy paino-keys open the next track “You could take my heart away”. A fantastic semi-AOR-ballad that reminds me of FRANKE & THE KNOCKOUTS on their 2nd album.
Track number 3 of side-B titled “It’s over” has got that Radiorock feeling again, those harmonyvocals are so perfect and the song is right up there with AXE and early SURVIVOR. The last 2 songs of the LP are the least interesting, but still from a good source. “Standin’ in the rain” is like “Carolina” on side-A and closing track “Goin’ for broke” is more sounding like AUTOGRAPH going Radiorock. The latter is being compared to Autograph, due to the fact that their leader STEVE PLUNKETT wrote it.
‘Silver condor’ was a true classic in the aor/radiorock genre and must be in the collection of every fan of this genre. (by strutteraor)
Personnel:
Joe Cerisano (vocals)
John Corey (keyboards, guitar)
Jay Davis (bass)
Claude Pepper (drums)
Earl Slick (guitar)
Tracklist:
01. For The Sake Of Survival (Cerisano) 3.24
02. Angel Eyes (Cerisano/Slick) 3.30
03. Sayin’ Goodbye (Cerisano/Lesley) 3.42
04. Carolina (Nobody’s Right, Nobody’s Wrong) 5.22
05. The One You Left Behind (Cerisano/Louther) 3.07
06. We’re In Love (Cerisano) 3.07
07. You Could Take My Heart Away (Corey) 3.52
08. It’s Over (Cerisano/Slick) 3.01
09. Standin’ In The Rain (Cerisano/Swetra) 3.44
10. Goin’ For Broke (Cerisano/Slick/Plunkett) 4.13
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