(AOR) Bobby Barth - Two Hearts - One Beat - 1986(2009), MP3, 320 kbps

BOBBY BARTH - TWO HEARTS ONE BEAT (1986, ATCO)
Bobby Barth - vocals, guitars, guitar synths
Bruce Nazarian - bass, keyboards
Mark Nilan - keyboards
Luis Resto - keyboards
Jimmy Hunter - drums
Esteban MacNardo - drums
Phillipe MacNardo - percussion
David McMurray - saxophone
John Trudell - horns
Ross Pooley - horns

Background
Bobby Barth is best remembered for his stint with the melodic rock band Axe. During the early 80's, the band switched labels from MCA to Atco, and released two albums 'Offering' and 'Nemesis'. A heavy schedule of touring, a couple of MTV videos, plus a clutch of songs which scraped the charts, the band were hard working without necessarily breaking into the big time. 1984 dealt a huge blow to Axe and Barth personally. A road accident claiming the life of guitarist Michael Osborne and putting Barth into hospital with serious injuries. Axe folded predictably after this event. Having recovered from his injuries, 1985 saw Barth join southern rockers Blackfoot, replacing Ken Hensley on the 'Vertical Smiles' tour. There is a commonality here: and that is Atco Records. Because in 1986, Barth released his one and only solo album 'Two Hearts One Beat' - on Atco, he used Bruce Nazarian (formerly of Brownsville Station and GDAZE faves The Automatix - who were also signed to Atco) as producer. Of course, Barth's previous band Blackfoot were also signed to Atco. Talk about keeping it in the family. As a result, 'Two Hearts One Beat' is very commercial lightweight AOR, quite a bit different from his years with Axe.

The Songs
Immediately the sound of the album is squarely peg-marked in that mid eighties hi-tech groove, which in today's 21st century environment sounds very dated. The keyboards, horns, sax and percussive elements contribute mostly to that dated-ness. The sound here is similar to mid 80's Starship mainly. The opener 'Dangerous Games' sounds similar to the Kansas tune 'One Man One Heart', the one chance one shot lyric a near doppleganger. 'Don't Come To Me' is pretty groovy AOR, Barth's vocal is smooth on this one. Big drums permeate 'Stop', think along the lines of Rick Springfield or Robert Tepper and you're more or less there. The track is a hi-tech cover of The Temptations chestnut 'Stop.. In The Name Love'. Barth plugs the semi-ballad path with 'Sara' (not the Starship tune.. just in case you were thinking..), while 'Knifes Edge' is an uptempo pop workout similar to John Parr on a good day. 'I Don't Want to Be Alone' is the big sweeping ballad of the album; 'Burn Me Once, Burn Me Twice' is another Rick Springfield meets Starship tune that features a few scorching solos to boot! The closer 'Once In A Lifetime' is a throwaway commercial workout that would appeal to all fans of Go West.. for want of a comparison.

In Summary
The album is just over a half an hour long, and as mentioned is vastly different to the hard rock/metal found with Axe. For me this material is so lightweight you'd be hard pressed to thinking this guy is a hard rocker! For those of you into that mid 80's hi-tech pop sound then 'Two Hearts One Beat' might tempt your taste buds, but don't go looking for traces of his sound from Axe - if that is the only reason you are wanting to procure this album..