Alessandro Del Vecchio is one of the coolest Italian melodic rock producers you’ll ever find. He has a knack for taking an old rock band/artist and tailoring arrangements that reflect their unique talents. At bat now is Danger Danger’s Ted Poley, a crazy singer who’s been preaching that ’80s politically correct love and peace message for 65 million years. Back in the day, all the T. Rex and Pterodactyls were eating up Poley’s newest single “Bang Bang” and checking out his live game at the Greensboro Coliseum circa 64,999,999 BCE.

Now, in 2016 AD, Vecchio manages to dress up Poley’s fossil by re-writing Stan Bush’s “The Touch” eleven times to great effect. Trite lyrics like “Lay down your loaded gun/You’ll be caught by the hands of love” and “Maybe my hearts doing time/We’re criminals guilty of the perfect crime” are masked by enough sparkly AOR makeup that you won’t even care.

The best example is “Stars”, an epic that’s as dynamic and genius as it is pompous and plastic. It’s hardly my definition of rock at all, yet you can’t help but feel elated by the pure melodic rush. The staccato pianos, bloated guitars, and bubblegum vocals are ultra high fructose, never letting up and always over-the-top.

If our lives were an ’80s teen martial arts drama film, this would have to be the soundtrack. You’re definitely not going to feel like Daniel-san all the time, but some days you will and Ted Poley anf Alessandro Del Vecchio  can get you through. Montages will play, chopsticks will catch flies, and asses will be kicked while the AOR gloss raises you up to the heavens.

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