“Round Trip” is a stripped down, reinvented retrospective of Tony Harnell's past classics originally recorded with TNT, Westworld and Starbreaker, with one brand new song.
Release Date: 02-07-2010
Genre: Melodic Rock
“Round Trip” is a stripped down, reinvented retrospective of Tony Harnell's past classics originally recorded with TNT, Westworld and Starbreaker, with one brand new song. Tony grabbed some friends in New York that are not a part of the Metal/Hard Rock scene and turned his own songs on their heads. With all new arrangements, key changes and added parts, it's like listening to songs you know in a whole new way.
The idea of re-recording some repertoire classics came about after performing some low key shows in New York in late 2008 with some talented and accomplished musician. Tony Harnell’s artistic desire was to try and breathe new life into these songs and to offer the fans to hear familiar melodies in a completely new light.
Frontiers Records President, Serafino Perugino liked the concept and in Harnell’s own words “The idea was originally based on it being the usual cliché “acoustic” album. Well, for us hard rockers that usually means simply playing the songs pretty much as they were but with acoustic guitars. That’s not exactly what I had in mind. If I was going to do this I was going to have some fun. I wanted to strip things down and see what would happen when musicians outside the hard rock community played my songs. That intrigued me. So, I gave all the guys the original album versions and then pretty much gave them carte blanche to reinterpret the songs. That meant key changes (cause you can’t sing like a banshee when you strip things down, sounds silly), chord changes and even arrangement changes if the mood hit. I also wanted a semi-live vibe. What we ended up with is an album that honors the original songs with a little added spice, color, and above all…fun”.
At the end of 2008 Tony and the other musicians entered the studio for a marathon two-day recording session that was supposed to lead into a whirlwind mixing session and an immediate release. But immediately after the session Tony hit some rather intense personal bumps in the road and production stopped. Months later the playful, loose vibe of those recordings resurfaced and the album was quickly completed.
“For me this was an extremely cathartic experience allowing me to gently close the door to the past with love and gratitude and regain the pride I rightly deserve to have for these songs and for the years of my life I gave to the various periods when they were written” says Tony Harnell. “This is in no way meant to erase, dismiss or compete with the incredible original recordings of these songs. This is just a little fun reinvention, a way to leave the past behind on my own terms. These are your songs as much as they are mine, some of you, like me, have all kinds of memories attached to them. My lyrics were, are and always will be filled with my experiences, struggles, hopes and dreams and my observations of the world around me. Hopefully you’ll listen to these songs in a new way and hear them with new ears. I know I have”.
Tony Harnell- lead vocals
The Mercury Train:
Jason Hagen-acoustic guitar and ukulele
Chris Foley-electric guitar
Brandon Wilde-bass and vocals
Brad Gunyon-drums and percussion
Amy Anderson-Harnell-vocals and descant recorder
Special guest: Sandi Saraya on Shame