Back in the late 80s, in the US of A scene, Metal and Hard Rock weren't the prime Rock derived genres that received a lot of attention. With the hardness of the formers, there was the opposite yet it still ran on the blood of Rock. AOR or Arena Oriented Rock, your radio friendly Rock fusion, spread like wild fire since the mid 80s and touched many hearts on the way. Many artists, even some of the Pop genre, staggered with this Rock subgenre and used it as a prime element. So without any further a due I give you KING OF HEARTS.

This rather sweet memory of softer Rock's greatest of eras was channeled through the re-release of the band's 1989 album, "1989". Thanks to the Avenue Of Allies label, you guys will have the chance to experience something that is musically Rockin' American with lots of feeling behind it. Although there was a swarm of bands just like KING OF HEARTS, they were the ones chosen to be reintroduced. As for me, I liked the album but not to the point where it blew me away. To be blunt, it was rather AOR ordinary or better said it was by the book no more than that. However, even as a Metalhead, this band still represents Rock, even on its softer form, and I valued them for their efforts.

"1989" sent me back to those 80s soundtracks of American films, you know something like "Karate Kid" or other youth movie of the same period. Also, the album has that portion of songs that could have been inserted into a car compilation. But beyond those references, and the utter catchiness that didn't let go even for a second, the crew behind KING OF HEARTS presented a high quality material that I think survived the test of time. However, even with such names as BOSTON's Tommy Funderburk on the vocals and JOHN FOGERTY's drummer / vocalist George Hawkins, and lest not forget the mastermind behind the band's guitars, Bruce Gaitsch, KING OF HEARTS didn't offer anything special that any other AOR bands offered as well.

Nevertheless, I believe that something new in the vein of well done tracks as "Don't Call My Name", "Under The Gun", "Remember When" and "In So Many Words", couldn't have reached the same level of the mentioned bunch. KING OF HEARTS' music tended to follow American standards that some were equal to slight Southern / Western Rock elements along with stuff taken out of American Pop. What I mostly liked on the album were the harmonious vocal sections, great acoustic guitars, silky solos, smooth riffs and the good choruses.

Nothing can be done about it, the 80s era had a sort of magic, whether in the thought pattern concerning music or even the particular sound production, that not the 90s or the 00s could reintroduce. Music might be recreated countless of times but to establish the same feeling, now that is the hardest task.