1982 was one of the best years for AOR music. The charts in the USA were filled with bands like FRANKE AND THE KNOCKOUTS, JOURNEY, SURVIVOR, FOREIGNER, STARSHIP... Around that time, also the female fronted AOR was taking an important part of the popular music. Female fronted acts like PAT BENATAR, LISA HARTMAN, HEART, QUARTERFLASH, ELLEN FOLEY... performed some great AOR/Poprock tracks.

However, a lot of female fronted AOR/Poprockacts never got the attention they deserved, because musically they were as good and sometimes even better. One of those girls that never broke through was NANCY NASH. The songs of her album could have been featured in one of the 1984/1985 episodes of the TV-serie 'Fame', because there is a clear similarity between NANCY's music and the music of 'Fame' of that period.

Interesting detail is that members of the AOR band AGENT did back up NANCY NASH on her only (?) LP. And more surprising is that this LP features an AGENT song ("Surrender"), which was first performed by NANCY NASH and a couple of years later AGENT re-recorded it for their classic AOR debut album.

The LP starts with "When love has a hold", a very laid back/light AOR/Poprocksong like SHARON O'NEILL and KAREN BLAKE. Still, the song features a nice guitarsolo and some great keyboards. The following 3 tracks will attract many female fronted AOR fans. First there is "Beginner's luck", a fantastic classic sounding female fronted AOR/Radiorocker that sounds like FIONA, TANE CAIN and also reminds me a lot of RACHEL SWEET (her song "Cruisin' love" - if anyone remembers it) and the FAME songs in the TV-serie around 1984/1985.

There are some good vocals of Nancy in the following track "Doesn't anybody know", a soft AOR/Radioballad with a great guitarsolo. And "Nobody" is a very good semi AOR ballad in the HEART style with another great guitarsolo (I'll bet by the AGENT guys!).

"Take it" is one of the heaviest tracks on this rather poppy LP. This song is nothing special Melodic Hard Rock that sounds like a cross between 1994 and TANTRUM. Then there is the AGENT song "Surrender". The version of NANCY NASH is quite different, but also has the classic 80s AOR sound. I love both versions!

Unfortunately, after about 6 good AOR tracks, the last 3 songs of the LP are a bit of a disappointment, because Nancy takes a step back and moves away from the AOR sound. Those last 3 tracks ("Say goodbye", "Do it all again" and "Am I") are all pop orientated radio ballads.

If you're a die-hard female fronted AOR fan, this NANCY NASH album is a must for you. However, if you want to hear a good pure AOR record, you don't need to buy this LP, because there are some great AOR moments, but there are too many poppy based tracks to buy this LP for an expensive price. Though it's nice to have if you see it for a few dollars!
 

(Points: 7.5 out of 10)