DAVID CARL BAND - Can't Slow Down (1998)

What you got when Jim Peterik is involved into your music? Great Melodic Rock.
And that's what we find in DAVID CARL BAND's album "Can't Slow Down".
A US Midwestern-born songwriter, singer and guitar player, David Carl moved to California to make his dreams come true. He met no-other than Survivor's Jim Peterik and both started to write songs together in the early '90s.
Even more, Peterik agreed to co-produce "Can't Slow Down" and play some keyboards.

The classic '80s Survivor feel flying over the entire recording. Just check title track "Can't Slow Down", the anthemic "Insatiable", or the Jimi Jamison sounding ballad "Arms Of Love" that belongs to the '80s soundtrack movie' category.
Carl's vocals are smooth and very melodious with a Eric Martin-like color on some cuts - check "For Jackie" for proof.
There's some REO Speedwagon on the delicious "Love Is Like Heaven" (lovely chorus), a pinch of Extreme on "Crazy Love", and Loverboy on the AORish midtempo "Trapped".



David Carl Band's "Can't Slow Down" is quite unknown outside Melodic Rock circles, and one of the best recordings released in the second half of the '90s - true 'dark ages' for the genre.
It's a trademark Jim Peterik record, full of melodies and smooth choruses.
Very good one.


01 - Innocent Kiss
02 - For Jackie
03 - Trapped
04 - Arms Of Love
05 - Love Is Like Heaven
06 - Crazy Love
07 - Can't Slow Down
08 - Dreamin'
09 - Insatiable
10 - Make Love Shine
11 - Hungry Woman
12 - Cost Of High Livin'

David Carl - lead and backing vocals, guitar
Bill Ozzello - bass, backing vocals
Randy Peterson - drums, percussion
Jim Riley - guitars, backing vocals
Jim Peterik - keyboards on track 1
Barb Unger - keyboards on tracks 4, 7, 12
Lou Depasqua - keyboards on tracks 5, 6, 11
Scott May - keyboards on tracks 8, 9, 10
Mark Zelden - keyboards on tracks 2, 3
Barry Sperdy - sax on track 2




DAVID CARL BAND - Can't Slow Down (1998)
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SURVIVOR - Ultimate Rarities

The other day I was messin' with some SURVIVOR demos on my player, and thought: why do not make a rarities compilation? The AOR / Melodic Rock Kings deserve it.

We have here a lot versions of their mega-hit "Eye Of The Tiger" all of them never commercially released, such as Dave Bickler doing it acoustically, the Jimi Jamison version, an instrumental, etc.
Amongst these rarities there's three tracks recorded with Irish shouter Robin McAuley (proposed to be Survivor's lead singer), the only known recorded version of "Velocitized" (later done by Mecca), and various extended mixes (all performed by Survivor).
As movie soundtrack collector, I love the "Burning Heart" &"Eye Of The Tiger" mixes only heard in the film, never released on any format and heavily edited from the DVD as source.
Of course are included here the exclusive songs only present into the Greatest Hits releases 'Ultimate Survivor' (2004) and 'Greatest Hits 2' (1993), and the track recorded for The Karate Kid soundtrack: "The Moment Of Truth".

Talking about the GH exclusive tracks, in the spring of 1993 Peterik and Sullivan reunited with original lead singer Dave Bickler and started recording new songs, two of them, "Hungry Years" co-written by Bickler, and "You Know Who You Are", were included into the re-vamped 'Greatest Hits' from 1993. Both only appeared there.
And the 2004 compilation 'Ultimate Survivor' featured three interesting new cuts: the previously unreleased "Rebel Girl" (outtake from Survivor's first self-titled album), "Rockin' Into The Night" also originally discarded as the song was given to .38 Special (which made a hit with it), and "Summer Nights [Long Version]" different from the 'Premonition' vinyl LP.



A mammoth SURVIVOR complitation myself-made for all of you, AOR / Melodic Rock fanatics. Includes artwork.


01 - Eye Of The Tiger 
(Rocky IV Movie Version)

02 - Rebel Girl (prev. unreleased)
(1st album outtake - from Ultimate Survivor 2004)

03 - Summer Nights (Full Length Version) 
(from Ultimate Survivor 2004)

04 - Rockin' Into The Night (prev. unreleased) 
(from Ultimate Survivor 2004)

05 - Eye Of The Tiger
(Jimi Jamison Version)

06 - You Know Who You Are 
(new track GH 2 - 1993)

07 - Hungry Years 
(new track GH 2 - 1993)

08 - The Moment Of Truth 
(Karate Kid soundtrack)

09 - Eye Of The Tiger (Instrumental)

10 - Burning Heart 
(Ultraburn Version)

11 - I Can't Hold Back 
(Live in Tokio 85 - bootleg)

12 - Eye Of The Tiger 
(Dave Bickler Acoustic Version)

13 - One Step Ahead Of A Flame 
(demo - Fire Makes Steel sessions)

14 - Velocitized 
(only version recorded ever - Live)

15 - Reach 
 (demo - Robin McAuley vocals)

16 - Eye Of The Tiger 
(demo - Robin McAuley vocals)

17 - Fire Makes Steel 
(demo - Robin McAuley vocals)

18 - Burning Heart 
(Rocky IV Instrumental Movie Version)

19 - Eye Of The Tiger 
(Ultrasound Long 12 inch version - DJ vinyl only)

20 - Eye Of The Tiger 
(Dave Bickler vocal trax)

Dave Bickler, Jimi Jamison, Robin McAuley - lead vocals
Jim Peterik - keyboards, guitar, vocals
Frankie Sullivan - guitars, vocals
Dennis Johnson, Stephan Ellis, Klem Hayes - bass
Marc Droubay, Gary Smith, Kyle Woodring - drums


SURVIVOR Ultimate Rarities
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