Trevor Rabin - Trevor Rabin (9 tracks) +Album Reviews

Look out Jeff Beck!!

Brian Hulett | 03/16/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Listen up all you guitar fans! Trevor Rabin is THE MAN!!! If you want to hear some awesome guitar riffs, this is the cd for you! I have often heard people compare Trevor Rabin to Jeff Beck, but, can Jeff Beck write, compose, play all instruments (except the drums) and produce his own music like this man does? I think not! (and I have to say I am a Beck fan) Look out Jeff Beck! Trevor Rabin is giving you a run for the money! All you YES fans really should invest in ALL of the Trevor Rabin solo's, and you will see for yourself just who contributed to the "YES success" of the eighties. And for all of you Beck fans out there, I'm not saying Trevor is better, just that he is equally as talented at his style of guitar playing. So, buy the Trevor solo's, and prepare for a mind blowing experience! Cheers, and enjoy!!"

All worship the guitar GOD!!!

Brian Hulett | 03/16/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Trevor Rabin IS the man! Aside from the seventies sound of this cd, you have to tip your hat to the many talents of this man! If you buy this cd, just read the liner notes and you will see how multi-talented this man is. He played all instruments, (except the drums) wrote all the songs, sang lead and backing vocals, and produced the whole project! Very impressive. His vocals and screaming guitar on the opening track, "Getting to know you better" and "Finding me a way back home" are not to be missed. Any guitar player should have this , and all Trevor solo cd's in their collection. This man is MY guitar hero. Give him a listen, and, he may be your's too!"

Before he hit the big leagues

Brian Hulett | Oinklahoma | 05/22/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I believe I'm probably one of the very few living humans who fell in love with this album within a month of its original release. I was working in small-town radio at the time, and Rabin's original label (Chrysalis) was one of the few to service the station with promotional LPs. Along with pre-fame Blondie and Split Enz, this debut LP arrived one day.Checking it out, I fell in love instantly and played it repeatedly for years, as well as the followup "Face to Face" LP. I haven't listened to it in some time, yet nearly every song is easily called up from memory. I was frustrated at the time that no one else seemed to pay any attention to the brilliance of the swirling arrangements, wrapped around rock-solid heavy guitar riffs and heart-pounding rhythms.And then he joined Yes, that union resulting in the band's biggest fame with hits like "Owner Of a Lonely Heart." So Rabin did get his appreciation, and has gone on to score multiple hit films with his unique sound.But none of his Yes work or film work, in my mind, matches this phenomenal debut. Imagine if you will a 19-year-old rocker (that's me) slipping this absolute unknown onto the turntable and hearing the gutsy, grab-ya riff at the opening of "Getting to Know You Better," first cut on the LP and CD as well. It's a "how we doin'" riff that refuses to be ignored, and the whole song is chock full of hooks and "turn me up" cues that don't quit.Yeah, that was great, but as the record played on I found that practically every song in this collection was just as enjoyable, just as hard to stop my foot from stomping, just as hard to not sing along. Along with GtKYB, "Fantasy" is another solid fave, although only one or two tracks here can be considered less than superb.A sinful lack of promotion from Chrysalis kept this LP from being discovered by more than a few people, but it's wonderful to see the artist's seminal work getting another chance through rerelease."

Trevor Rabin

Mr. S. St Thomas | UK | 06/19/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Why this album may have been criminally ignored, may be down to its sound quality, and what Chrysalis did to the product once known as BEGINNINGS on RPM Records.

One Way Records re-issued this long deleted album back in November 1996, under its Chrysalis TREVOR RABIN banner. As the credits show, it was digitally mastered by Paul Linford. This may not be what the problem is. The problem may have started with Gary Edwards, and his re-mixes back in 1978 at Wessex Studios, London. It is quite possible that Edwards is to blame for this album's 'lack of quality' in sound, but definitely not it's songs. I'd have to hear the original Chrysalis version of this album to be sure Linford's mastering wasn't to blame. But since Linford seems to be working from the original 2 track Stereo Masters of TREVOR RABIN, I can only look at Edwards re-mixing to say where the problem truly is.

I have this album on RPM Records (South Africa), when it was originally called Beginnings, and had a different track listing. One of the major mistakes made was dropping two of it's songs, and replacing it with just one (''All I Want Is Your Love'' replaced ''Love Alone'' and ''Could There Be''). It also renamed one of the songs 'I Love You' as 'Finding Me A Way Back Home', and completely removed elements of the song. The original RPM recording (produced by Rabin)is a very good sounding album. I was actually shocked when hearing it, because for 10 years I was led to believe he just didn't have the finances to produce a 'studio' quality recording. But something just wasn't adding up there, I had a hunch. Merely because I couldn't figure out how the songwriter who was in South Africa's most successful band, couldn't find enough money to produce his first solo album. The Chrysalis album's mix sounds like someone who could just afford enough studio time to make certain songs work. The RPM version sounds as professional as a Johannesburg Studio in 1978 could sound with Trevor Rabin behind the boards. And Rabin's studio perfection was evident on this 1st album.

Whether in it's RPM version or Chrysalis version, this 1st album shares more in common with Rabin's 1989 album CAN'T LOOK AWAY. It veers all over the place as far as musical styles, sometimes within one song. His follow up albums, FACE TO FACE (1980) and WOLF (1981) treaded a more rock orientated path, but BEGINNINGS/TREVOR RABIN is across the musical landscape. The extremely catchy ''Love Life'' starts out Classical, moves to Hard Rock, then into Disco/Funk, back again, and then ventures into Reggae territory. The song ''Painted Picture' has an opening that sounds distinctly like Bryan Adams later hit ''Heaven''. ''Live A Bit'' would fit perfectly on CAN'T LOOK AWAY, as would 'Fantasy'. This album is full of great ideas and great material, and a much better showcase of Rabin's overall talents as a songwriter, string arranger, multi-instrumentalist.

Wait. You wouldn't hear his talents as a string arranger at 24 years old (born January 13, 1954), because Chrysalis dropped the song ''Love Alone'', which was a ballad with Rabin on Piano, and an Orchestra. It also dropped ''Could There Be'', which to me was a major mistake. But it also may have been too early for the 80's power ballad in 1978. ''Could There Be'' begins with an acoustic guitar intro very much in Rabin's acoustic style. Very commercial, and melodic, it then has a chorus sung by a strong Female Vocalist. I'm not saying this song is comparable to a Joe Cocker / Jennifer Warren type 80's song. But it has the hallmarks of it, the potential to be it, back in 1978. Rabin's commercial potential is all over the original RPM release, and the butchered Chrysalis/One Way release, but maybe his tenure in Yes would never have been had he been successful with this first solo venture. It's possible.

I'm not sure if the recent re-issue of this album by Voiceprint (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00006IRLQ/qid=1119172690/sr=1-15/ref=sr_1_15/104-1695146-5411115?v=glance&s=music) has improved on the sound quality. It certainly did not reinstate the original song selection from the RPM release, sticking with the Chrysalis US/UK version, but insisted on calling the album by its original name. I'm not sure if this album will ever get properly sorted out, or given fair justice, because it is truly an auspicious debut album. The mix cannot bury what is a very good collection of (9) songs and material. I'd go so far as to say this is an ''awesome'' album.

It would be better if it followed the RPM mix, brought back the two missing songs, and had Rabin's involvement in doing all that.

"

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