These bands don't seem comparable to me at all upon first listening to Angel, but this is my first listen and I've just now only made it through their first record. I was dimly aware of Angel back in the day as I recognize those album covers, which are pretty great! I really like Tower from the debut, but I was a huge Kiss fan during this time period (age 10-13 for me) and still think a lot of their tunes hold up well. While I remember the Angel album covers for their latter 70's material, Kiss was everywhere in print and on the radio back then. My sixth grade self had a killer Kiss t-shirt where the letters literally ****ing sparkled liked stage lights in the sun haha. Good memories! Thanks to the OP for getting me to listen to Angel now that I'm middle aged.
I, too, own albums that have songwriting which I feel is great and yet those albums haven't sold as much as other albums. But the key part there is the "I". I'm only one vote in determining "great songwriting" when I purchase an album. And my idea of great songwriting certainly holds no more weight than millions at large. No album sells in significant quantities if people aren't casting a vote for the music (the songwriting). I guess I have far more trust in buyers and their choices. At least personally speaking, I can say firsthand that I have never bought a single album where the music (songwriting) was the not the main reason. Marketing, cover art and other aesthetics are just a natural component in keeping an album in the public eye, but ultimately, no album sells in signicafant quantities (certainly not years and decades later) if people aren't voting for the songwriting. You can't repeatedly play "marketing or other aesthetics" on a turntable or on a CD player.
That's the spirit! And thank you for your thanks!! (Not a silly thread at all, is it? If we all thrived on humourless greyness, we'd join a Dostoyevsky forum, right?)
They came out at the wrong time. If their last studio album 'Sinful' had come out in the mid 80's they would have been a much bigger band. I love Angel and was lucky enough to see them open for Styx on 2 different tours and they were great live.
Huge Angel fan here and same for New England. I saw New England in 1980 open for Kiss at Madison Square Garden and they were great.
I like Angel and saw them in concert in '78 around the time of White Hot. They were great in concert with the vanishing magic act and played all of their best songs. Why they weren't bigger is a good question. The song writing is kind of weak. I like around 3 or 4 songs per album. Not one album is good all the way through. KISS were better songwriters because they could write an album full of 3 minute memorable songs.
Somehow I must have heard Starz on the radio because I bought the singles of both Cherry Baby and Sing It, Shout It. Either that or I was just mesmerized by the logo because I knew nothing else about the band. Both singles were yellow vinyl too.
I've always liked Angel. Lots of catchy songs. Have all their lps and not too long ago picked up the CD box set.
Just played Sinful. This is a great album, probably my fav so far. I see what others mean about it being different to their earlier stuff, and that it could have been massive if it'd been released mid/late 80s. Brought Poison to mind a few times, but in a good way! Man, if those lunkheads could sell millions, Sinful would've been multi-platinum. Interesting inner sleeve, on two counts: first, it says side two was recorded at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, with the Record Plant mobile. Didn't Kramer want to do similar with RARO? Maybe he did do it? Second, it could just be a case of self-aggrandisement arising from Short Man's Problem, but are they all really 6ft 6", apart from Wee Man in the middle (I have no idea who he is)? Or are they all maybe standing on foot-tall crates? I think we need to know...
Here's one from Angel that has a similarity to Led Zeppelin (from Helluva Band) -I would have ate this up back in 76-77 had I ever heard it on the radio, but I never heard Angel on the radio, or anywhere else, until this year.
So I got the self titled Angel album, and love it. Any recommendations for other albums of theirs and maybe say something about them?
