De-Arrow - 'De-Arrow'

(20th Century)

I’ve never heard of De-Arrow, nope, not even through their link to Cult Aussie melodic rockers Roxus – whom recorded two De-Arrow songs on their one and only album ‘Nightstreet’. The band never released an album and this is a collection of unearthed recordings released for the first time ever. So, anyone who isn’t nerdy enough to know the writers of every Roxus song and those individuals’ backgrounds can be forgiven for been unaware of the band. But after my first listen I’m incredulous at the fact that these songs and band have never seen the light of day, how the hell did De-Arrow never get at least one album out? I could rattle off name after name of bands from the same era who pale in comparison to De-Arrow! It’s an absolute tragedy!

I know Melodic Rock wasn’t big in Australia, but neither was it in the UK and we still managed to get a few melodic rockers out on the circuit can you say “FM” so how these guys totally went under baffles me especially as Australia does have a rich and vibrant music history.

The sound quality isn’t perhaps the best, but still good I’m assuming these tracks were all professionally recorded for a proposed album which obviously got shelved at some point. It really is a shame as I truly believe many of us would be talking about this band in the same breath as other cult acts of the Eighties era. To me ‘We’ve Got The Wings’, ‘Love After Midnight’ and ‘Don’t Steal My Heart Away’ are genuine genre classics and had the album seen the light of day, I know we’d all be talking about them as such.

De-Arrow are straight out of the Bon Jovi school of highly commercial stadium rock, big singalong choruses, immediate hooks and prominent synths. If I knew no better, I’d say these guys were American and even if they didn’t make a splash in Australia, they could have easily done a Def Leppard and been bigger in the states than their homeland.

Remember these songs are from the Eighties so expect them to sound that way, but if you are a melodic rock fan, you’ll be doing yourself a disservice not checking this album out. Radio friendly commercial rock that will get under your skin and cranking the stereo!

8/10

Essential Track - 'We've Got The Wings'

Review by Woody