Billy Thorpe - East Of Eden's Gate (1982)

(Australian 1956 - 2007)

The name Billy Thorpe may not have made much of an impact in the UK or Europe, but in Australia he is a veritable legend, having carved out a highly successful career since the late sixties in a seminal and raucous hard rocking band called the Aztecs. By the 1970’s he’d outgrown his home grown popularity and moved lock, stock and barrel to Los Angeles, recording a gold selling album helmed by producer Spencer Proffer, titled ‘Children Of The Sun’, that established him in the USA as a rising star.

Indeed, if it were not for the collapse of his record company, Capricorn, Billy’s follow up album ‘21st Century Man’ might well have established him as a major star. But retreating to Spencer Proffer’s studio, Billy cut two further albums for the CBS backed Pasha label, an operation that was riding high on the platinum plus success of Quiet Riot. The last of these two works was the brilliantly crafted ‘East Of Eden’s Gate’, a record that allowed Billy to fully blossom by crafting a magnificent opus that actually owes as much to Pink Floyd as it does to Ted Nugent.

Originally issued in 1982, the album is a stunning example of melodic hard rock, with a panoramic, almost cinematic, lustre that has dated not a jot. With musical support, including guitarist Earl Slick (David Bowie) and drummer Frankie Banali (Quiet Riot) the album is loaded with wide-screen triumphant epics such as ‘Dogs Of War’, ‘Edge Of Madness’ and the title track itself.

The singles were “Hold On to Your Dream” and “No Show Tonight”. The album was remastered in 2013 by Rock Candy Records.

Billy Thorpe came to prominence in the late 1970’s with the massive FM radio success of the song “Children of the Sun.”  The song appeared to put him on the fast track for success, but the label he was on, Capricorn, had financial problems and folded, leaving the song and the album it was on drifting away into outer space.

Thorpie's Band 1982

In 1982, Thorpe went into the studio and recorded the album East of Eden’s Gate.  The album had the promise of being Thorpe’s masterpiece.  The music was at times, ethereal, yet contained enough of a hard rock, melodic base to make it relevant in the day’s musical landscape.

East of Eden’s Gate was produced by Spencer Proffer, who was riding high on the success he had producing Quiet Riot’s Metal Health. Thorpe had an all-star cast that included QR’s drummer Frankie Banali and David Bowie guitarist Earl Slick. Together they created a complete and well-polished rock album.

The title track is a true epic cut that exemplifies the energy and talent Thorpe was in possession of at the time.  The best tune, “Dogs of War” makes this worth the purchase price all by itself.

This post consists of FLACs ripped from near mint vinyl that I recently sourced during a trip to New Zealand. I also sourced his Stimulation LP from the same Aukland record store during this trip, which has already been posted on the blog HERE.   Full album artwork for both vinyl and CD formats are included, along with PASHA label scans. 

  

No bonus tracks this time folks, in fact, this LP needs no enhancements.  In my opinion, this album is one of Thorpe's best post-Aztec releases. 

Track Listing

01 East Of Eden's Gate  6:19

02 Edge Of Madness   4:27

03 Hold On To Your Dream   3:29

04 While You're Still Young 4:05

05 No Show Tonight   4:06

06 I Can't Stand It   5:14

07 Nite Rites   3:39

08 Cruisin' (The Town In The Heat Of The Night)   3:46

09 Dogs Of War (Flesh And Blood)   7:20

Band Credits:

Billy Thorpe - vocals, guitar, synthesizer

Jim Johnson - bass

Frankie Banali - drums

Earl Slick - guitars

Bill Cuomo - synthesizer

Pat Regan - keyboards, synthesizer

East Of Eden's Gate Link (275Mb)