Jean Beauvoir has a CV as long as your arm but if you haven’t heard of him then you’ll surely recognize him. His famous mohawk is as recognizable as Eddie the ‘Ead or Angus Young in his school uniform.
Beauvoir has performed with bands such as Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul along with punk legends The Plasmatics as well as fronting his own bands, Crown of Thorns and Voodoo X plus numerous solo projects. He has writing credits with such luminaries as Kiss, John Waite and The Ramones among many others. As if he isn’t busy enough he has also written music for tv and movies including Sylvester Stallone’s Cobra and Stephen King’s Pet Semetary.
Having appeared on around 250 albums over his 30-year career it is little wonder it was high time to bring out an album of choice cuts spanning this era.
In Jean Beauvoir’s case, this is to be split into two separate releases, each entitled Rock Masterpieces. Rock Masterpieces Vol 1 is slated for release July 6, 2018, via AOR Heaven.
Rock Masterpieces Vol 2 will appear sometime early 2019.
All the tracks on Rock Masterpieces Vol 1 have been remastered and the album opens in scorching fashion with a Crown of Thorns classic “Faith”. A keyboard intro leads to a walloping riff and we’re off. The tone of the album is well and truly set.
Surprisingly, considering the amount of work Beauvoir has released, this compilation is very Crown of Thorns heavy, with “Voodoo Queen” and “Standing on the Corner For Ya” being particular highlights.
AOR is Beauvoir’s raison d’etre and he rarely, if at all, deviates from this path.
While the tracks on Rock Masterpieces Vol 1 cover Beauvoir’s career from the mid-80’s to mid-90’s there is little discernible difference in the feel of the tracks. Part of me is saying “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” whilst the other side of me is shouting “Where is the variety!!”
This is a good selection of solid AOR tracks, but masterpieces? I think I’ll reserve judgment on that one.
PRE-ORDER: ROCK MASTERPIECES VOL 1
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[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdFfRN3MrAk[/embedyt]
