Tony Harnell & Mercury Train ‘Round Trip’

 

THE BAND:
Tony Harnell – lead vocals
Jason Hagen - Acoustic guitar and ukulele
Chris Foley - Electric guitar
Brandon Wilde - Bass and vocals
Brad Gunyon - Drums and percussion
Amy Harnell - Vocals and descant recorder
**Special guest: Sandi Saraya (lead singer of the late eightieshard rock band Saraya) on “Shame”**

1.) “Somebody Told You”- Taken off of TNT’s ‘Firefly’ CD released in 1997.
2.) “Intuition” –Taken off of TNT’s ‘Intuition’ CD released in 1989.
3.) “Month Of Sundays” - Taken off of TNT’s ‘Firefly’ CD released in 1997.
4.) “Lonely Nights” – Taken off of TNT’s ‘My Religion’ CD released in 2004.
5.) “Shame” – Taken off of Westworld’s 1998 self-titled release. (Duet with Sandi Saraya lead vocalist of the late eighties metal band Saraya.)
6.) “Northern Lights” – Taken off of TNT’s ‘Tell No Tales’ CD released in 1987.
7.) “Down To The River To Pray” – Originally recorded by Alison Krauss & Union Station for the ‘Brother Where Art Thou?’ soundtrack.
8.) “Satellite” – Taken off of TNT’s ‘Taste’ EP released in 2003.
9.) “ 10K Lovers” - Taken off of TNT’s ‘Tell No Tales’ CD released in 1987.
10.) “Uninvited” – Written and recorded by Alanis Morisssette in 1998 for the City Of Angels soundtrack.  Though the song was never released to outlet stores it still reach #1 on the Billboard Top 40. In 2000 Tony Harnell along with Danger Danger bassist Bruno Ravel covered the song on Westword’s second release titled, ‘Skin’.
11.) “Ready To Fly” – Taken off of TNT’s ‘All The Way From The Sun’ CD released in 2005.
12.) “When I'm Away” – Was the Japanese bonus track from TNT’s 2004 release titled ‘My Religion’
13.) “Song For Dianne” - Taken off of TNT’s ‘My Religion’ CD released in 2004.
14.) “Anywhere But Here” –New Song

“Recording this album was an extremely cathartic experience, allowing me to gently close the door to the past with love and gratitude and regain the pride I rightly deserve to have for these songs and for the years of my life I gave to the various periods when they were written” continues Tony. “This is in no way meant to erase, dismiss or compete with the incredible original recordings of these songs. This is just a little fun reinvention, a way to leave the past behind on my own terms. These are your songs as much as they are mine, some of you, like me, have all kinds of memories attached to them. My lyrics were, are and always will be filled with my experiences, struggles, hopes and dreams and my observations of the world around me. Hopefully you’ll listen to these songs in a new way and hear them with new ears. I know I have”. – Tony Harnell

     The first time I heard the name Tony Harnell was in 1986 when a friend brought me a copy of TNT’s ‘Tell no Tales’ to listen to.  Best I can remember he said something like, “When you get the chance listen to this band and the instrumental “Sapphire”.  They will blow you away!!!”  Even though a musician it was not the instrumental that impressed as much as the vocals on the ballad after it titled, “Child’s Play”.  That album made me afan of TNT however that ballad made me a fan of Tony Harnell.  The vocals care still some of the best I have ever heard!!!  Since that day I have always said if I could design what I would call an all-star band Tony would be one of three people I would choose to front it.
      In Harnell’s own words “The idea was originally based on it being the usual cliché “acoustic” album. Well, for us hard rockers that usually means simply playing the songs pretty much as they were but with acoustic guitars. That’s not exactly what I had in mind. If I was going to do this I was going to have some fun. I wanted to strip things down and see what would happen when musicians outside the hard rock community played my songs. That intrigued me. So, I gave all the guys the original album versions and then pretty much gave them carte blanche to reinterpret the songs. That meant key changes (cause you can’t sing like a banshee when you strip things down, sounds silly), chord changes and even arrangement changes if the mood hit. I also wanted a semi-live vibe. What we ended up with is an album that honors the original songs with a little added spice, color, and above all…fun”.
     The quote above is exactly what you get with the songs on ‘Round Trip’.  From beginning to end the band’s acoustical interpretations of the songs are amazing and even en some cases better than the original like track 2, “Intuition”.  Especially the guitar work and Amy’s backing harmonies on “ Northern Lights”!  The duet on Westworld’s “Shame” with Sandi Saraya should have been done like this on the original version.  This striped down version of “Satellite” was amazingly huge sounding!!!!  Amy sings lead vocals on what is just the opening verse of the Alison Kraus cover.  Blew me away!!!!!  The guys gave “10,000 lovers in One” a funk feel.  Hearing Tony sing any version of “Univited” makes a CD worth buying!!!!  “Ready To Fly” as duet was pure magic.  The arrangement for the new track had an early seventies Paul McCartney of The Beatles feel. THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE MUST OWN!!!!!!