I remember seeing the videos for “She Controls Me” and (I think) “Love Games” – really liked the poppy tunes so I went out and bought the album “Worlds Away” by Strange Advance. Of course the title cut just blew me away – the heavy reverb and spaciousness of the track… those freakin’ heavy drums… the loneliness and melodrama. I personally remember cranking this at a hot steamy summer party… in a basement somewhere in my youth… feeling sad and lonely that the girl I was in love with was with someone else… yes… she was… Worlds Away…. um… I digress.
None other than Bob Rock was the engineer on this masterwork, with guest vocals from Bryan Adams (who Darryl Kromm – the guitarist used to back on tour I believe).
The inner sleeve of the album was a feast for my adolescent eyes… searching for mystery and meaning… and direly wanting to know the secrets of the universe – consisted of the lyrics and prints of the drawings of Paolo Soleri… (quite an interesting guy and a brilliant idea which thrives even today see this).
The album covers a lot of ground with great poppy tunes (like the aforementioned ones) and some more esoteric pieces which are like “New Wave Prog-Rock” with allusions to nuclear holocaust and personified radio waves – The album is still a pleasure to listen to (just a little corny 🙂
Great production – a cohesive album, though I think side one was stronger than side two – with the poppier tunes dominating. But, then again, The “Bottom Side” opens with “Worlds Away” which covers just over 7 minutes.
Anyway – it’s a keeper. I never loved anything else by the band as much as I loved this album. Might have been the stage of life and the circumstances. But – that’s how it goes.
