1) Art Fails *
2) Tragic Surf
3) Only The Lonely
4) Schneekin'
5) So L.A.
6) Apocalypso *
7) Mission Of Mercy
8) Lost But Not Forgotten
9) Who Could Resist That Face *
10) Sweet Destiny *

Bonus Tracks
11) Art Fails (alternate version) *
12) Don't You Remember (4-track demo) *
13) Tragic Surf (4-track demo) *
14) Fiasco (4-track demo) *
15) Obvioso (4-track demo) *
16) Only The Lonely (4-track demo) *
17) Only The Lonely (TV Mix - hidden track) *

(*) previously unissued track

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0057LCTDI/?tag=imwan-20

Is this the album that was originally supposed to be their third release?

Alan

Yep!

Yes to this! The "All 4 One" remaster has four of these tracks:

So L.A. [Apocalypso Version]
Schneekin [Apocalypso Version]
Mission of Mercy [Apocalypso Version]
Who Could Resist That Face [Apocalypso Version]

After the group submitted "Apocalypso" to Capitol, a Capitol executive bluntly told Martha Davis that Capitol would release the album, if Davis insisted, but they wouldn't promote it. That effectively killed the release. Producer Val Garay(a former engineer for Linda Ronstadt) came up with an idea that would create an album(with some of the same songs) that would be more palatable to Capitol: Garay did a Monkees-type move, replacing most of the Motels(except ,perhaps, on some tracks, the keyboardist) with slick, proficient sessionmen, who created better arrangements for the songs, leaving the group with the simpler task of merely immitating those arrangements on stage, though the group could never quite capture the feel of "Only The Lonely". With Garay and his sessionmen making the instrumental tracks, the group's hits continued, until Garay made the tactless mistake of revealing(in the now defunct "Modern Recording and Music" magazine) the use of sessionmen, and saying "Maybe the group will be ready to play next time". Actually, the sessionmen were credited in the fine print on the album covers, but it was always assumed that they played in addition to the group, when, in fact they played instead of the group members. Val Garay & The Motels parted ways, and the group's hits abruptly stopped. And, after Garay, who knew nothing about heavy metal, did a lousy mix(with the guitars down too low) that undermined Queensryche's debut album "The Warning", Garay disappeared into obscurity.

I'm looking forward to this, but I frankly don't expect to like it as much as "All 4 One." And I wouldn't apply the word obscure to Val Garay. The man produced "Bette Davis Eyes" and shared (with Kim Carnes) a much deserved 1981 Grammy Award for Record of the Year for it.

I'm refering to "obscurity" subsequent to Garay's early 1980's commercial heyday.

Big Motels fan so I already pre-ordered this one on amazon, even though the current release date isn't until August 9.

This is exactly the kind of imaginative release that I'd like to see more of.

I have the excellent "No Vacancy" compilation on CD, and three of the first four albums on LP, and I like all of them. Do I need "Apocalypso," or is this for more serious fans?

It's not necessarily just for completists. Apocalypso follows the more experimental tone of the first two Motels albums ... it's uncompromising, and even though Capitol were complete jerks about it, they probably couldn't have broken the band with that version of the album. Apocalypso and All Four One are different enough (not only in tracklistings) to make keeping both worthwhile, IMLO. There's a lot more to distinguish the two versions than, say, the two versions of Heart's Magazine.

Good to know, Linda. Thanks for the input. I was never a Heart completist, so I wasn't aware that there were two versions of Magazine. Why was that the case?

Have you heard the whole thing, Linda? I'm very anxious to hear it. I love "All Four One" and "Careful" equally, so I expect it will be somewhere between the two.

BTW, I LOVE the first version of "Magazine," and give the redone tracks on the second one a big yawn

Magazine was to have been Heart's second album. They wanted out of their deal with Mushroom records, and during the legal battle over that, Mushroom released the material they had, which wasn't actually a finished album. Once the matter was settled (and that initial release withdrawn), the band rerecorded some of the tracks and released the album officially. The tracks that were rerecorded were quite stripped down compared to the original versions, which were more in the psychedelic vein of Dreamboat Annie.

Yes ... and yes, but I would say it's a bit closer to Careful than to what followed. I've always felt sort of iffy about their commercially successful era, so getting a legit CD of Apocalypso will neatly end my Motels collection.

This is very exciting news. I still would like to have SHOCK released on CD, too!

Shock was released on cd way back in 1989, I have a copy, it's a pretty weak issue, no liner notes, bare bones. I just looked on amazon and 2 third-party sellers have a copy starting at $99.95. I saw The Motels open for Heart on their Passionworks tour and both were excellent. The Romantics were the opening act.

I'm very excited about this. I've always heard these tracks existed, but never thought they'd see the light of day.

I recently interviewed Martha Davis for my Icon Fetch podcast and she spoke very highly of these tracks - described "Only the Lonely" as more "eerie." Will definitely pick this one up.

For those interested, the direct link to the Martha Davis interview is: http://www.iconfetch.com/great-music-in ... otels.html


Tony

Listened to "Clean, Modern and Reasonable" today, a 2007 release where Martha strips down all the tracks, they are almost muzak or smooth jazz renditions. Her voice is fine, but I didn't care for it. It's almost as if she added as little possible musically to the selections.

Wow; glad to see that at least one of my old CDs is still "worth something." But I'd gladly have it rendered worthless by a new, remastered and expanded edition. I've always loved "Shock," especially the title track and "Cries And Whispers." I had no idea The Motels opened for Heart anywhere; it certainly wasn't the case anywhere near me. I'd have paid dearly to see that. Interesting coincidence that Martha and Ann have both contributed vocals to several tracks on albums by the Teatro ZinZanni troupe. Is anyone else here familiar with those and, if so, what do you think of them?

David, I saw them at The Summit in Houston, I believe it was 1985. The Motels played an abbreviated set being as The Romantics were the first opening act. It was one of the few times that I wanted the opening act to stay longer. Still have the "Shock" t-shirt.

It was released in Japan back in 1986 as have I a copy although that doesn't alter the case for it being re-released.