Last time on the Dutch PICTURE reruns, I stopped at the band's 1985's "Traitor" album, which saw a first time release on a CD via Divebomb Records. In the PICTURE history it was a sort of an end of yet another era in the band's career. While establishing a strong suited Hard Rock / Heavy Metal front up till the middle of the 80s, as a leading Dutch act, things got rattled a bit with the approach of 1986. When the business got into the band's music, the PICTURE lineup had a fall down, leaving founding member, and bass player, Rinus Vreugdenhill on his own. The recruitment of three new members, which one of them was the high pitcher vocalist Bert Heerink (ex-VANDENBERG), paved the road for two albums that virtually transformed PICTURE into a Hard Rock / AOR band, commercial and largely into the mainstream of the period. 1986's "Every Story Needs Another Picture" and its year after follower "Marathon" were both reissued by Divebomb Records as the last remnants of PICTURE's 80s legacy as a 2 in 1.

Even without reading about it at first, I presumed that die-hard Rocker fans of the early 80s PICTURE would let these two albums go about their business, as the phrase says, therefore, putting the band aside. I believe that though there are major differences between these two albums and the previous eras of the band, one has to come forward and listen with a clear mind, as no matter what, the talent is still there, the breathing heart and approach of PICTURE still beat, and hard. While being one some of the early gods of British Metal and 70s Hard Rock, such as DEEP PURPLE / JUDAS PRIEST / RAINBOW, the tides turned more into the American vibe of such acts as ZZ TOP / FOREIGNER / FREE, yet not leaving the British isle in total as there were several URIAH HEEP and ELO echoes as well.

"Every Story Needs Another Picture" can be rendered as the baby steps into AOR, especially if you count the rather minimal effect, and place in the mix, of the rhythm guitar in favor of an additional ounce of bass and strong vocals. The songwriting changed exponentially, mainly directed into the points of catching the ear, capturing the attention right from the beginning and let if flow nicely until the end. Similar to any AOR album's direction, "Every Story Needs Another Picture" wasn't that much different. However, the release provided a perfect chance to get to know, for the first time in PICTURE, the tremendous vocal abilities of Bert Heerink, surely an explosive vocalist, which in my view should have made the comeback with PICTURE in the 00s. No doubt, a perfect singer of both AOR and Hard Rock, softer touch yet with a sharp edge. Furthermore, newly recruited guitarist, Rob Van Enkhuizen, delivered high powered soloing efforts, partially classic type and some shred, displaying very impressive playing. Opening track "Battlecruiser", which I found to be the album's prime tune, sounded like a determined forge of high quality Hard Rock with a cracking AOR chorus to make it flamboyant. The extra crispy fire catching "Moving Down The Line" is another scorcher, a really fun track to listen to. "She Was Made For Lovin'" delivered a little chopping of Hard Rock, breathing the American sensation and lastly the strong "No Way Back" that showed the upcoming of the next album, "Marathon".

"Marathon", sailing on the beat of its predecessor, saw the recruiting of a permanent Keyboards man, Ronald de Grauw, a step that completed PICTURE's transformation into an AOR band. The magnitude of the keyboards is much noticeable throughout the tracklist, portraying de Grauw's talent behind the keys. In comparison to the previous album, it seemed to me that the more PICTURE sank knee deep into AOR, the lesser were the songs that came out through it. Probably by chance I presume, as after "Marathon" the band fell apart only to reappear later in the 00s. However, armed by the sonic force of Heerink and the guitaring of Van Enkhuizen, things looked rather alright, even more than that on occasion. "Break Away" burst as a terrific opener, crunchy AOR song, immensely catchy and energetic, a proper way to open things up. "We Just Can't Lose", my chosen best track, delivered a mighty chorus aside a Hard Rocking vibe that entangled well with the sensational keyboards. "I'm On My Way" and "S.O.S" display once more PICTURE's taking points from American Hard Rock / AOR songwriting style, showcasing simple, but pleasing to the ears rhythm guitaring, and of course a larger than life vocalist.

It is easy to get sucked in the powerhold of hooking songwriting, a kind of pattern that will greater than chance for attention of listeners, PICTURE had that phase, trying to get in one with the mainstream. They ended with released two good albums, not letting go of the Hard Rock nostalgia, yet putting aside their Metallic mischief for at least two decades. I urge you to include this package as part of your collection, it is vital piece.