MONRO - MONRO (1987, SPELLBOUND RECORDS/ALFA RECORDS)
Chris Ellis - vocals
Andi Turner - lead guitars, vocals
Craig Richards - rhythm guitars
Marc Bell-Jones - bass, vocals
Richard Williams - drums

Background
I'd been aware of this excellent band for a few years, but had no idea until recently that they originated from Wales.. of all places. these guys were on the prowl the same time as fellow countrymen Kooga, though Monro's style of rock is much streamlined and glossy than the counterparts. In fact, it's more North American or Scandanavian sounding than anything coming out of Britain at the time - much to my surprise years later. There are so many soundalikes here, it would be difficult to mention them all at once, but obviously these guys have listened to many very good artists to come up with an album of this quality.

The Songs
Their songs are a mix of poppy AOR with a serious gilt-edged guitar sound, as evidenced from the get-go with the Fate like opener 'Some Girls'. You know this lot breathe quality as early on as track two - 'Here Comes The Night' is an absolute classic track, and deserves a listen more times than not! 'Give Me Your Love Again' is parpy based keyboard AOR in the mould of Austrian greats Fahrenheit, but the same can't be said for 'It's You' - which is a reasonable attempt at a rock ballad. 'Lonely People' is another fantastic effort, while the band emulate Londoners FM by casting a tribute to those 'American Girls' in melodic splendour. The remaining tracks all wear the same tempo and attitude and could've done with a bit of contrast, but when you hear tracks like 'Princess' and the sensational closer 'Rock This City' you'd be a big whinger if you complained about the quality.

In Summary
The band later recruited ex Persian Risk singer Carl Sentance upon the departure of Chris Ellis, who apparently went on to record a very expensive LP the following year with another band (it remains unclear to me who they might've been) only to see it shelved. It looks as if this album has been designated a CD re-release by the crew over at Retrospect Records. This is a damn fine AOR album, that still sounds great twenty years later.

Track Listing:
01 Some Girls
02 Here Comes The Night
03 Give Me Your Love Again
04 It's You
05 Lonely People
06 American Girls
07 Princess
08 Surrender
09 Open Up Your Heart
10 Rock This City