American melodic hard-rock/AOR band. Started out in the early eighties, by guitar shredder Joshua Perahia. Members can also be found in Axel Rudi Pell, Warrior, M.A.R.S., Impellitteri, Shout and others. Similar to Shout, Impellitteri and Mydra.
THE HAND IS QUICKER THAN THE EYE
(1983, 2001) M&K SOUND
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Line-up: Joshua Perahia - Lead and Rhythm Guitars, Vocals Stephen Fontaine - Lead and Background Vocals Donnie Gougeon - Keyboards, Background Vocals Mahlon Hawk - Bass Tony Zaccaglin - Drums, Percussion |
The debut effort from Joshua was originally an EP, released in 1983. And it's such a great debut-album, I bet it made some fuss when it was first released. There weren't many super-guitarists like Mr. Perahia, that still managed to sound like a band, back then. The songs that are good, are so good it's scary! Melodic neo-classical metal at it's best. I may be repeating myself, but Joshua is one of my all time favorite melodic metal/hard-rock bands, ever! The vocalist here is also excellent, as with all the other throats Joshua were to use, on later albums. My version is a reissue from 2001, that comes with altered cover art, and 2 bonus tracks.
Killer tracks: A Song For Lisa, Let's Breakaway, Flying High
SURRENDER (1986, 2001) M&K SOUND
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Line-up: Joshua Perahia - Guitars Jeff Fenholt & Robert Basauri - Lead Vocals Joshua Perahia, Jeff Fenholt, Robert Basauri, Eric Tottobene, Ken Price, Bryan Fleming - Background Vocals Craig Ostbo, Joe Galletta, Joe Tafoya - Drums Loren Robinson & Joshua Perahia - Bass Patrick Bradley & Eric Norlander - Keyboards |
'Surrender' was Joshua's second album, originally released in 1986 (original artwork above, right). I used to own the original version on vinyl, and could never quite figure out why the CD sounded different. But I've later discovered that in 1992, Joshua was offered to reissue the album, and update the sound of the original recordings. So he gathered a bunch of friends, and pretty much re-recorded the entire album. They also slapped on a bonus track on the reissue.
Perahia is a guitar shredder, and on this one it shows! On the latter releases he is more laid back, but on 'Surrender' there are plenty of solos and guitar fills. The vocals duties are shared by Robert Basauri (also in Red Sea and Die Happy), and Jeff Fenholt (mostly known for his audition for Black Sabbath, an incident he still uses for commercial purposes to this day). I really like this album (as I also do the others). There are not many other bands in this genre I give this much attention. "Heart Full Of Soul" is a Yardbirds cover.
Killer tracks: Surrender Love, Stay Alive (Go On Believing), Show Me The Way
INTENSE DEFENSE (1988) BMG ARIOLA
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Line-up: Joshua Perahia - Guitars, Backing Vocals Rob Rock - Lead and Backing Vocals Greg Shultz - Keyboards, Backing Vocals Emil Lech - Bass Tim Gehrt - Drums |
I used to own a vinyl copy of this classic album, but were really pleased with replacing it with this used CD. I paid about $5 for it, now it goes for over ten times that amount on ebay. Joshua is of course an excellent AOR band, and this album is no exception. With Rob Rock on vocal, and Joshua Perahia on guitar, it's a lesson in hard rock melody making. It's my favorite Joshua record.
Killer tracks: Only Yesterday, Crying Out For Love, Remembering You
CHAPTER ONE (1995, 2001) M&K
SOUND
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Line-up: Joshua Perahia - Guitars, Vocals Joey Rochrich - Bass Guitar, Vocals Eric Stoskopf - Drums, Percussion With: Michael O'Mara - Lead Vocals Elizabeth Vandall - Add'l Backup Vocals Diane Arens - Keyboards
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Originally released under the M-Pire name in 1995, this is a re-release with new artwork. In my opinion this is kind of a weaker album than it's predecessors. None of the songs stick out as better than the others. 'Chapter One' is of course still not a bad album, and I like this one as well, but I tend to put on the others before I reach for this one. If you haven't heard Joshua before, maybe this is a good place to begin, 'cause then you might get a different perspective to it then I do.
Killer tracks: As said, none of them really stick out.
SOMETHING TO SAY (2001) M&K
SOUND
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Line-up: Joshua Perahia - Lead Guitar Jerry Gabriel - Lead Vocals Joey Rochrich - Bass Guitar Eric Stoskopf - Drums, Percussion With: Alex Ligertwood - Lead Vocals on 1, 3, 5, 12 Jason Scheff - Vocals and Bass on 1, 6, 8, 12 Mugs Cain - Drums on 1 Martin Gerschwitz - Keyboards on 1 |
Joshua (now Joshua Perahia) returns in 2001, not only re-releasing most of their back catalogue, but also with a new album. And another great album it is! Although several tracks are rerecorded older song, I still think the album sounds fresh and new. Mr. Perahia really knows how to write excellent melodic hard rock. Beautiful songs, that stands the test of time. Though I can't really see the reason why he re-recorded "Remembering You" twice for this album, other than the fact that it is an awesome ballad of course. Still I prefer the version on 'Intense Defense'. The lyrics on 'Something To Say' is more about Joshua's beliefs than on any of his previous albums. I truly love this album, as it has grown to be one of my favorites by this band (together with 'Intense Defense').
Killer tracks: Something To Say, Precious Love, Guiding Light
Rob Rock guest appearances:
Powergod - 'Bleed For The Godz - That's Metal Lesson 1'
Laudamus - 'Lost In Vain'
Frost - 'Raise Your Fist To Metal'
Related artists:
Impellitteri, Rob Rock, Axel Rudi Pell, Angelica, Warrior, Avantasia, Red Sea, Die Happy, Fires Of Babylon
