Personnel: Aldo Nova (vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass); Dennis Chartrand (acoustic piano); Michel Pelo, Roberto Biagioni (bass); Michael Lachapelle (drums); Dwight Druick, Daniel Barbe (background vocals).
Recorded at Bobinason Studios, Montreal, Canada; Kingdom Sound, Syosset, New York in 1981. Includes liner notes by Bryan Reesman.
Personnel: Aldo Nova (vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass guitar); Denis Chartrand (piano, keyboards); Michel Pelo, Roberto Biagioni (bass guitar); Terry Martell, Michel Lachapelle (drums); Daniel Barbe, Dwight Druick (background vocals).
Audio Mixers: Aldo Nova; Tony Bongiovi.
Liner Note Author: Bryan Reesman.
Recording information: Bobinason Studios, Montreal, Canada (1981); Kingdom Sound Studios, Syosset, NY (1981).
Photographers: Robert Grant; William Coupon; Gary Gershoff.
Arranger: Aldo Nova.
Canadian rock singer/songwriter Aldo Nova doesn't get enough credit (some cynics would say blame) for helping invent the 1980s pop-metal genre, which focused equally on hard rocking anthems and soaring power ballads. Aldo Nova appeared in 1982 complete with irresistible melodies and choruses, explosive guitar licks, and huge-sounding drums. It was a full year or more before Def Leppard, Night Ranger, Bon Jovi, and others would latch on to this formula and rocket to stardom. Nova wrote, produced, arranged, and performed his double-platinum debut album by himself, except for drums and some bass guitar and piano parts. Nova is quite proficient on guitar, but his secret weapon is his keyboard and synthesizer prowess. The hit single (and early MTV favorite) "Fantasy" cannot be denied; it's loaded with guitar and keyboard hooks as well as a catchy chorus. "Foolin' Yourself" has a more straightforward pop feel and it was a minor hit. "Ball and Chain" is the best-known power ballad on Aldo Nova, but the hypnotic "You're My Love" is better. "Hot Love" is propelled by several guitar solo bursts. "Heart to Heart" and "See the Light" are fast, energetic songs with crisp guitar riffs and swirling synthesizer lines. Aldo Nova is a minor classic. ~ Bret Adams
Aldo Nova's 1981 eponymous debut is a masterpiece from a style that didn't have too many masterpieces, period: early-'80s album-oriented rock. Nova's album has all the hallmarks of the time, particularly in its sleek surfaces, yet its blend of pop and hard rock points forward to some trends that surfaced later in the decade. Yet even if it could be convincingly argued that the album laid some of the groundwork for pop-metal -- it's true that its radio-ready blend of loud guitars, pop hooks, and a sentimental streak became commonplace in the late '80s, but hair metal bands had a greater debt to Van Halen, Aerosmith, and Kiss, not to mention Def Leppard, who truly defined the style with Pyromania -- but the album is equally tied to the sounds of AOR in the pre-MTV days, thanks partially to Nova's use of keyboards and the spacious rhythm tracks. So, Aldo Nova straddles its eras, which would make it interesting in and of itself, but what makes it such a terrific record is that it's a great hooky pop album touched with a hint of a mad maverick sensibility. This is nearly a one-man-band album, with Nova producing the record and playing all the guitars, keyboards, and vocals, in addition to most of the bass (Michel Lachapelle handles most of the drums), and this lends the album a driven intensity as well as an inventive, wide-open sound that is commercial but never pandering. It may still sound of its time, but there's energy to the productions and elastic musicality in the arrangements, so it still sounds pleasing even if it does sound dated. A large reason that it sounds so pleasing is that Nova's songwriting is excellent. He's a good pop craftsman, with his vocal melodies complementing and expanding his riffs, whether it's on rockers or ballads. The over-amped, anthemic "Fantasy" was the hit, a favorite on album rock radio and MTV, with the surging ballad "Foolin' Yourself" also making some waves on the air, but they're just peaks on a record that is rock-solid, filled with terrific arena rockers and big ballads -- and that's an important distinction, because AOR albums were often filled with filler. Aldo Nova kicks off in grand fashion with "Fantasy" and "Hot Love" and it sustains its momentum until the end, and years later, it still is an unabashed pleasure, one of the great AOR records and an unacknowledged power pop treasure. [Aldo Nova was reissued in 2004 in a remastered edition by Epic/Legacy, featuring one bonus track: an alternate mix of "Foolin' Yourself."] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine minimize