Friday, December 02, 2011

BRUCE HIBBARD - Never Turnin' Back [CD re-edition] (1980)


Requested in "Request & Fill Corner" section...

A nice request to fulfill.

Bruce Hibbard's "Never Turnin' Back" sits easily amongst the best West Coast AOR albums in my collection, and undoubtedly it's one of the more purist recordings in the genre. Despite Hibbard's CCM origins, the lyrics are pretty straightforward.

This customer at Amazon describes perfectly what I think about this little gem:
"The CD starts out right out of the gate with the sprightly title cut, and doesn't let up until the final note of "We Are All His Children." If this CD were released in secular radio in its day, it would have sponsored Top 10 singles for three years.
This is one of my favorite CDs of a collection of hundreds, spanning 25 years or so of CCM and secular music!
I could try as I do with other CDs to mention three to five favorite cuts, but it is not possible with 'Never Turnin' Back'. It is THAT good!

Agree completely. All tracks are pure AOR breezin', exquisitely performed and produced. Bruce sings like an angel and the session musicians are top notch, including the great Hadley Hockensmith on guitars.
Reissued on CD by a specialized Japanese label not so long ago, it seems out of print right now. The digital transfer and mastering is first rate, with a warm sound.
Don't miss this delicatessen.
Highly Recommended.


01 - Never Turnin' Back
02 - Calling
03 - You'll Never Let Me Go
04 - It's A Shame
05 - You're So Good To Me
06 - Forgiven
07 - Straight And Narrow
08 - All Of Me
09 - Love Will Always Make A Way
10 - We Are All His Children


Bruce Hibbard: vocals, keyboards
Hadley Hockensmith: guitars
Dean Parks: guitars
Harlan Rogers: keyboards
Bill Maxwell: drums
Bryan Duncan, Randy Thomas, Kelly Willard: backing vocals






BRUCE HIBBARD - Never Turnin' Back NEW LINK

11 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Let's try... I sure enjoy it! Thanks for so good music! ;-)

DrakeSinister said...

I cannot express how overjoyed I am that this has finally become available. Camelblue, you are a true Godsend in every sense of the word. Thanks so much!!!!!!!!! :)

Neon said...

This was a great album.

I love West Coast AOR, but has always come pretty short when it comes to discovering artists and albums in this genre. What Artists and Albums would you recommend Camelblue? Would appreciate a few recommendations in this genre. =)

Camelblue said...

@ Neon:
These are essentials:
Airplay - S/T
Pages - S/T
Jay Graydon - Airplay For The Planet
Peter Friestedt - LA Project
Robbie Dupree - S/T
David Roberts - All Dressed Up
Greg Guidry - Over The Line
Randy Crawford - Secret Combination
Robbie Dupree - S/T
The LA Cowboys - Endless Summer
King of Hearts - Any

Neon said...

Thank you kindly for the recommendations!

Airplay, Jay Graydon and Robbie Dupree i knew about. The others i will have to check out! Airplay is constantly parked in my mp3 player, definitely one of my favorite albums.

Anonymous said...

The music to be played in your car stereo while you're driving through the streets of New York city ;)

Camelblue said...

Haha nice definition. U R right!

Anonymous said...

Re-up?? THK!!!!
Amazing disc!!!

Camelblue said...

NEW LINK READY

Anonymous said...

Hermoso álbum, gracias

gaydude65 said...

Any possibility of a FLAC/WAV upload of this album? I would be most grateful! :-)