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Rating: The three minutes that change life...
This was for the Survivors "Eye of the Tiger". Three minutes that settle the bank account forever, win a Grammy, and bring you a notoriety you would otherwise never have had. There are bands that in their entire careers couldn't achieve the results that Jim Peterik and company achieved with that single song. However, the Survivors were forever imprisoned in that golden cage created by that single track and will forever be remembered as "...those from Rocky..." or for the young people of the Italian soil "...those from Maria De Filippi....", since their leading song serves as the background for the pathetic challenges in the little theater of Mrs. Costanzo.
But it would be criminal to limit the history of the Survivors to only their presence in some Rocky movie, to that captivating riff that, for better or worse, consigned them to history.
If AOR is a rock that marries pop sounds, the Survivors will represent its softer, more radio-friendly side. They couldn't boast a global musical vision like that of Toto, nor the technical abilities of Journey, but their music was simple, essential bass and drum lines overlaid with keyboards that dictated the motif and a guitar that was never aggressive. The Survivors are the ideal soundtrack for car journeys in convertibles, on roads lined with palm trees, on sunny beaches where the lifeguards are beautiful and wear red suits.
They owe a lot to "Eye of the Tiger" but the best things came later, as in this "Vital Signs", the year 1984, which saw the entry as vocalist of the talented Jimi Jamison, with a voice less expansive than the departing Dave Bickler, but certainly warmer and deeper.
"Vital Signs" is a record made for the radio, where each of the nine tracks present is a potential hit. The production is perfect, crystalline and damn pop. Forget the main riff of Eye of the Tiger, here the absolute master is Jim Peterik with his keyboards, as in the splendid High on You, or in the 80s ballad The Search is Over. I Can't Hold Back starts with a sweet guitar arpeggio but increases in intensity until it launches into a chorus to sing and sing again at the top of your lungs. In each of the remaining tracks, the chorus represents a trademark and it is by no means easy to always find the right notes, those singable by anyone. The Survivors have often been defined as "cloying" or "saccharine", almost as if creating simple and direct melodies was a disgrace, and what in some way was their quality ended up becoming a limit.
The ailment that AOR suffered is precisely this, being considered not intellectual enough, suitable for housewives or teenagers looking for summer crushes, surprising little, but adapting and scavenging from a couple of genres to thus build all its hypothetical fortunes.
The Survivors represented the ideal soundtrack of that America over twenty years ago, that America we got to know in films and TV series, that we watched dreamily and did not find (willy-nilly or by bad luck, this is always to be seen) in our small provincial towns. Just as that American dream ended, even the Survivors, after a couple of other excellent albums, had to lay down their instruments and make way for those who did not sing of beaches, sea, and love, but only of desolation and frustration.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 I Can't Hold Back (03:59)
There's a story in my eyes
Turn the pages of desire
Now it's time to trade those dreams
For the rush of passion's fire
I can feel you tremble when we touch
And I feel the hand of fate
Reaching out to both of us
I've been holding back the night
I've been searching for a clue from you
I'm gonna try with all my might
To make this story line come true
Can you feel me tremble when we touch
Can you feel the hand of fate
Reaching out to both of us
This love affair can't wait
I can't hold back
I'm on the edge
I can't hold back
Your voice explodes
Inside my head
I can't hold back
I won't back down
Girl, it's too late
To turn back now
Another shooting star goes by
And in the night the silence
Speaks to you and I
And now the time has come at last
Don't let the moment run too fast
I can feel you tremble when we touch
And I feel the hand of fate
Reaching out to both of us
There's a story in my eyes
Turn the pages of desire
Now it's time to trade those dreams
For the rush of passion's fire
I can't hold back
I'm on the edge
I can't hold back
Your voice explodes
Inside my head
I can't hold back
I won't back down
Girl, it's too late
To turn back now
I can see you tremble when we touch
Ooh, and I feel the hand of fate
Reaching out to both of us
This love affair can't wait
I can't hold back
I can't hold back
I can't hold back
02 High on You (04:08)
There you stood, that'll teach her
To look so good and feel so right
Let me tell you about
The girl I met last night
It's understood, I had to reach you
I let the wheel of fortune spin
I touched your hand before
The crowd started crashin' in
Now I'm higher than a kite
I know I'm getting hooked on your love
Talkin' to myself, runnin' in the heat
Beggin' for your touch
In the middle of the street
And I, I can't stop thinkin' about you, girl
I must be livin' in a fantasy world
I'm so high on you
Smart and coy, a little crazy
The kind of face that starts a fight
Let me tell you about
The girl I had last night
Piercin' eyes, like a raven
You seemed to share my secret sin
We were high before
The night started kickin' in
Now I'm screamin' in the night
I know I'm getting hooked on your love
Talkin' to myself, runnin' in the heat
Beggin' for your touch
In the middle of the street
And I, I can't stop thinkin' about you, girl
I must be livin' in a fantasy world
I've searched the whole world over
To find a heart so true
Such complete intoxication
I'm high on you
There you stood, that'll teach her
To look so good and feel so right
Let me tell you about
The girl I met last night
Now I'm higher than a kite
I know I'm getting hooked on your love
Talkin' to myself, runnin' in the heat
Beggin' for your touch
In the middle of the street
And I, I can't stop thinkin' about you, girl
I must be livin' in a fantasy world
I've searched the whole world over
To find a heart so true
Such complete intoxication
I'm high on you
I'm high on you
I'm high on you
04 The Search is Over (04:12)
The Search is Over by Survivor
How can I convince you
What you see is real
Who am I to blame you
For doubting what you feel
I was always reaching
You were just a girl I knew
I took for granted
The friend I had in you
I was living for a dream
Loving for a moment
Taking on the world
That was just my style
Now I look into your eyes
I can see forever
The search is over
You were with me all the while
Can we last forever
Do we fall apart
At times its so confusing
The questions of the heart
You followed me through changes
And patiently you'd wait
'Till I came to my senses through
Some miracle of fate
I was living for a dream
Loving for a moment
Taking on the world
That was just my style
Now I look into your eyes
I can see forever
The search is over
You were with me all the while
Now the miles stretch out behind me
Loves that I have lost
Broken hearts lie, victims of the game
Then good luck, it finally struck
Like lighting from the blue
Every highway's leading me back to you
Now at last I hold you
Now all is said and done
The search has come full circle
Our destinies are one
So if you ever loved me
Show me that you give a damn
You'll know for certain
The man I really am
I was living for a dream
Loving for a moment
Taking on the world
That was just my style
Then I touched your hand
I could hear you whisper
The search is over
Love was right before my eyes
05 Broken Promises (03:56)
Summer and smoke, diamonds and dust
Go where you will, do what you must
The promise was made, your word was enough
We had dreams, visions and plans
Into the night, out of our hands
Letting our passion fulfill our demands
I remember those songs on the radio
The jasmine, the wind in your hair
Does it seem like so long ago?
*Broken promises
Is it written in stone that we wind up alone
Wo oh, broken promises
And a heart that recalls
When the promise was all that we had*
Into the dust, reckless we rode
Secret desire, talking in code
Bittersweet madness, the stories unfold
I remember those songs on the radio
The jasmine, the wind in your hair
And how it hurts to remember those
( * Repeat)
06 Popular Girl (03:39)
When she walks in the room, every eye in the place
Turns to follow her every move
She's arrived on the scene in her diamonds and jeans
World class -- she's got nothing to prove
It takes a long time to know her, whe gives it up a little at a time
*She's gettin' what she wants
She's a popular girl
Settin' those hearts on fire
Everybody wants to be
Part of her world
She's a popular girl
Such a popular girl*
She walks down the street, knocks 'em dead on their feet
With a casual nonchalance
When she's breaking your heart, she's the state of the art
With license to take what she wants
It takes a hard man to hold her, she likes to get a little out of line
( * Repeat)
She waits by the window, the world is her stage
Each smile is her mirror in the passing parade, passing parade
And in the end, all she'll be is your friend
Though passion's your lone desire, she's the one you can't touch,
You want her so much, you're burnin', your heart's on fire
It takes a hard man to hold her, the challenge is forever on my mind
( * Repeat)
07 Everlasting (03:51)
Heart and soul I come to you
Are we meeting here on cue
Just in time for a love affair
Like a fool I'd walk through fire
Just to reach my heart's desire
Baby would you be waiting there
Can we afford to wonder
If this could be the one, wo-oh
*I'm looking for a love that's everlasting
I wonder if the feeling's strong enough
Tell me are we merely lovers passing
Or an everlasting love
This could be an everlasting love*
On this first night we are one
Kindred spirits on the run
Taking hold of our destiny
In this world of chances missed
Does forever still exist
This side of the fantasy
Can we afford to wonder
If this could be the one wo-oh
( * Repeat)
09 I See You in Everyone (04:25)
Every night, a fleeting glimpse of candlelight
Chases 'cross the atmosphere -- but you're not here
and I see the shape of moonlight on the cityscape
But now the skyline wears a shroud
I hear your voice in every crowd
Listening for your footsteps in every hallway
Watching for your headlights around the bend
I can see you standing in every doorway
*Out in the street, in every glance
I see your reflection, I fall in a trance
You can't know what you have done
I see you in everyone, in everyone
In the night I see your eyes
From every direction a different disguise
Can't you see what I've become
It's making me crazy, I see you in everyone*
Day by day, I watch the memories slip away
And traces of reality come back to me
Then I see your face, somewhere in a distant place
The fantasy has gone too far --
I close my eyes and there you are
I can see you standing in every doorway
I can feel your heartbeat -- I hear your voice
And hiding in my shadow you're with me always
( * Repeat)
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By 19lionheart90
"This album is a milestone in melodic rock and music in general."
"Listen to the divine piano interlude around minute 2:40. Truly magnificent."
