Sahara Snow
July, 1997
July has marked the long awaited release of new music for Rick Springfield fans. Rick is part of the musical trio Sahara Snow, along with keyboard/ percussionist Bob Marlette and former Fabulous Eels guitarist Tim Pierce. The songs were mostly cowritten by Marlette, Pierce and Rick, with two songs written solely by Rick. Other songwriting collaborators include Dubin, Spiro, Silverman and Watson. The twelve song CD mixes strong vocals supplied by Rick, exhilarating guitar riffs by Pierce and rythymic keybaords and percussion pounded out by Marlette. The songs very from a romantic ballad to raging rock tunes to raging dance music.
If you don't already own the Sahara Snow CD you can order it through NEH Records (www.nehrecords.com) or call Thoughtscape sounds at 1-800-435-6185; you can also order it from their website: Sahara Snow. If you call yourself a Rick Springfield fan, you have to have it! So go get it! :) As you can see, you're gonna love it.
Thanks to all who submitted reviews of Sahara Snow. Here are a few of your thoughts about Rick's (so far!) latest release:
From: Valery28
To: AShelinHello.
I received the Sahara Snow CD through NEH records, and to sum up my impression, I'll say: Different, Awesome, Wow.
This music is totally not what I expected from Rick. Although I've always taken Rick's music seriously, many others have labelled his music as "bubble-gum and soda-pop." I have to say to those people that what you hear on Sahara Snow will blow your mind away. It is not the Rick of the 80s. It is a deeper, slightly darker, more introspective side of the musician. What you hear is maturity in style, voice and lyric. Although most of these songs were co-written with Bob Marlette and Tim Pierce, I believe that the messages coming through are truly Rick's. I don't know from what aspects of his actual life he has gathered these words, but whatever the case, they definitely work. My favorite picks are: Lust, Stranger, Somewhere, Modern World, New Lover and Miss Your Kiss. My least inspring ones are Scandolous Life and Psychoactive. Whether Rick uses the style of Sahara Snow for Karma or any future albums does not matter. The fact that he has demonstrated his ability to piece together meaningful adult lyrics, and to express them in a sincere way, while also integrating hard-rock and rythymn and blues just shows again what we have known for years: that Rick is an extremely talented, extremely versatile artist. Totally Awesome. Rick, you're "all-that!"Arlean Worthy (valery28@aol.com, or worthy@wefa.com)
"I am 24 and come from Brisbane Australia. I have been a Springfield fan since I first heard "Jessie's Girl" in primary school. Thank god for some new music. I imported Sahara Snow from America 2 weeks ago and it hasn't left the CD player. During my first listen I was laying down on the floor and track 12 began to play. It was incredible, I remember thinking Rick's back!! I am now counting the days to his new solo project. If "Lust" is one of the songs he didn't put on his new CD than this could be his biggest yet. " Darryl Dean, Brisbane, Australia
"I love the new Sahara Snow album. My favorite songs are Lust, Scandalous Life and Rovianne." Julie Estep
"great samashing, except I had to import it from America" Michael Christie, Scotland, UK
"I just got done listening to Rick's new album, actually he is under a new group name called "Sahara Snow". It does sound very different than his last album." Alane H.
"Hi there fellow Rick fan(s).I've been a BIG Rick fan since,well as long as I can remember,and I'll be 25 at the end of this month.So pretty much my entire life.Boy, I'll tell ya,it's great to hear Rick again.His music has always had an impact on me.Sahara Snow does not dissapoint.Granted,this is a "group album",but Rick definitly gives the songs life.Just his presence makes this project come alive.His musical maturity really hits the peak with this one.His voice seems stronger than ever and the songs he wrote alone are right up there with some of his best lyrical performances.Man,the new solo album should be a killer! Anyways,I think the best songs on the album are of course his solo stuff,but I really liked the lyrical strength of "Stranger".He and Mark Spiro should team up more often."Rovianne" rocks right from the first guitar lick and never lets up.The original Sahara Snow sessions is a great addition to Rick's career.I'll grade these songs from best to worst and then go from there. The best:"Suzanne-"Scandalous Life"-"Is Everybody Happy"-"Modern World"-"Psychoactive"-"Miss Your Kiss".The worst:"Heaven & "New Lover".Overall,this is a really great album that no Rick Springfield fan should do without.If only they would release this album commercially in the U.S.I really think it could hold its' own against any other groups or musicians out there.Hanson needs a leason on what pop adult oriented rock means.And Rick can be their teacher!!!Thanks for listening.Sorry if this letter seems a bit long,but heh,I'm talking about Rick here,so what do you expect?Feel free to write back if you'd like.I'd be interested in what you think and feel about this album and about Rick in general.Oh,by the way:great Rick sight.Keep the info rolling!!" MIchael Johnson
"You want a review, here's a review. WOW. Yeah. Excellent. Awesome." Mark Orstead
"I like to put the CD on at "Somewhere" and hit repeat on the disc so that it travels through "Lust", "Modern World" and "Rovianne". I think these are the tracks that really are Rick as you can hear his strong vocals meld with his intelligent lyrics. I can feel the energy there. The other songs just don't seem to be the direction Rick should be moving. I would like to see him move toward more edgy tunes like "Lust". Afetr hearing songs like tha, I really can't wait until the new album." Michael Meister
"Our hottest selling CD for the month of October were AXE's '20 Years From Home' and 'Sahara Snow'." NEH Records
If you have comments or suggestions, email one of us at viv4rls@aol.com or ashelin@aol.com
