Keeper of the Flame

YES IT IS LATE 80"S BUT G.E. STILL MAKES IT WORK. SYNTHSIZERS MAY BE ALITTLE HEAVY BUT THEY ARE NICELY TEXTURED WITHIN THE OTHER INSTRUMENTS........

Keeper Of The Flame has Golden Earring changing their sound up yet again. Many people dislike Keeper for some reason and it's not their best but I prefer it over NEWS and The Hole. The late '80s was an interesting time which was different than the early '80s. Techno and New Wave was over, glam/hair metal was still going strong with grunge and alternative beginning to gain popularity. Golden Earring didn't exactly become a hair band or start playing grunge but Keeper has them blending in with the later '80s. NEWS and The Hole had good moments but I wasn't crazy about the techno influences. Keeper has the band toning down the synthesizer and it was a new direction. Can't Do That is a decent opening track but not a great one, typical late '80s rock song. Too Much Woman is a good one which has a late '80s glam rock edge but it worked and blended well with their traditional style. Distant Love and Keeper Of The Flame show a more melodic, atmospheric edge to the band. Keeper (title track) has a certain edge to it which reminds me of Pink Floyd during the Momentary Lapse-era. Turn The World around is an interesting one which experiments with a blend of acoustic and electric guitar, a great track which has a very melodic sound. Circles and Say My Prayer are some of my personal favorites which shows their return to a guitar-based sound and a good return to rock. Keeper might not be like Radar Love or Twilight Zone but it's a nice return to rock and their best since Cut. Keeper blends well for it's time but still sounds good today and is still Golden Earring.

I've mentioned the period. of time I call "The Slump" that this great band suffered through. This album might be the lowest point of that period. Keeper starts of with possibly the worst song in Earrings discography (Not counting their early pop days) I actually skip over it and I do not do that very often. It gets better from there but all in all this is not up to their relative standards. I can see it growing on me due to some of the better cuts but will always most likely be one that lies forgotten in my CD cabinet.It has been as I purchased this years ago. For hardcore Earring collectors only.

For more than three decades Golden Earring have enjoyed massive domestic popularity, but outside the Netherlands they seem doomed to the curious status of "two-hit wonders". In the 70s the band somehow failed to build on their worldwide smash "Radar Love", slowly fading from the limelight despite a string of excellent albums. Then in the 80s there came the surprise American hit "Twilight Zone". U.S. tours followed with the likes of .38 Special, but once again the band seemed unable to capitaliseBy the release of "Keeper of the Flame" in 1989 the band appeared to have withdrawn from the global stage. Beyond their homeland, the album only saw a release in Germany courtesy of Virgin, and it has to be said the lack of interest was largely merited. From the opening track "Can Do That" it's obvious that they were attempting to inject their sound with dance rhythms and effects that were hardly likely to win favour with their hardcore fans. The sparring vocals of Barry Hay and George Kooymans are still very much present, and songs like "Turn the World Around" are solid enough, but overall there's very little to recommend this album to anyone but completists

After Cut in 1982 Golden Earring went into a down slide.NEWS,Live Twilight Zone were rather weak and Hole were very a different GE album all together and they rebounded with an album more like GE of old.It was a welcome return for me,but I donot think many fans noticed.Fortunately for me I did ,and fortunately GE carried on to make more great albums in the future.

Sure it's not Golden Earring at its peak.But can we really talk about a bad album here...I don't think so, the 80's have been though for all hard or metal bands and even if G.E. released some great stuffs in the 80's(CUT, SOMETHING HEAVY GOING DOWN),this album belongs to a less-inspired period but still carries on the flame of rock.

This is pretty weak, late '80s stuff from Golden Earring. I haven't heard their new stuff since -Most of it makes it to the US only on import, but their late '70s and early '80s releases are much better. You can skip this one, even if you are a fan.

I WAS GLAD TO FIND THIS AT A GOOD PRICE FROM BUY CD NOW.CA.......IT IS A GREAT ALBUM/CD, I 'M NOT SURE IF IT IS REMASTERED. IT IS ON RED BULLET LIKE THE OTHERS BUT NOT LISTED. PACKAGING IS FAR BETTER . SOUND IS GOOD BUT I NEVER HEARD THE ORIGINAL.THE ONLY WEAK SONG IS NIGHTHAWKS. THE REST ARE EARRING CLASSICS NOW FOR ME. THE GUITAR WORK BY KOOYMANS IS ONE OF HIS BEST IN MY OPINION. VOCALS ARE ALWAYS GREAT. A MUST FOR ANY GOLDEN EARRING FAN..........A NICE SURPRISE FROM YEARS GONE BY........................................................................................