Freddy Curci – Then and Now (2000)
Our Freddy has reached near legendary status as a singer in the melodic rock/AOR scene, ever since those halcyon days of Sheriff, and then with supergroup Alias. Not only is he blessed with a god given voice, but his songwriting ability is pretty good too. With this compilation album ‘Then And Now’, we see a mixture of old and new bought together under the guise of Freddy Curci. A key constant throughout Freddy’s career has been his association with pal Steve De Marchi, a colleague both from Sheriff and Alias, but long before that even. Primarily we see songs from the Alias album, some from ‘Dreamers Road’, some native Italian compositions he’s put together as a representation of his family roots, plus a couple of odds and ends.
Having songs like the eternal AOR classic ‘Perfect World’ melded together with the likes of the Alias supremo track ‘Haunted Heart’ is worth the price of the disc itself. Elsewhere we get other timeless efforts like ‘Waiting For Love’ (who hasn’t covered this song?), the hit single ‘More Than Words Can Say’ and a live rendition of the Sheriff US No#1 hit ‘When I’m With You’. The Italian efforts include ‘Senza Te’, ‘Ti Sposero’ and ‘Un Amore Tutto Mio’. Also there are a couple of newbies, ‘Bare Necessity’, a track which never made the Alias album according to the liner notes, plus a song written with wife Lara Cody called ‘Finally’.
In Summary
All in all, a great mix of songs representing superb value for money clocking in at 73 minutes. Let’s hope the Curci/De Marchi partnership continues to churn out more classic rock in months to come.[/spoiler]
Freddy Curci – Then and Now (2000)