Roxanne - Roxanne (CD)

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That's an 80s Hard Rock reissue from an obscurity' followers of the genre will no doubt fancy. ROXANNE released just this one album (original title was Burning Through The Night - released in 1988 via Scotti Brothers - with a Japanese issue simply entitled just as Roxanne) and disappeared the same way they initially emerged outta nowhere.
Not much is to say 'bout ROXANNE's history. Hardly anything is known, anyway. Thus, what you'll listen to Roxanne is an average sample of American Hard Rock flirting both with the 70s Rock legacy (e.g. LED ZEPPELIN, AEROSMITH, KISS) and the 80s tempo Rock attributes (e.g. DOKKEN, KINGDOM COME). The tracks - truth is - focus more on the 'riffs' side of the - anyway noteworthy -  guitars work, with the drums accompanying in a 'sharp' 70s way. The vocals of Jamie Brown will surely bring KINGDOME COME's Lenny Wolf to mind, but in a more American outline (he does sleaze things up here and there - so does the music). Fronting the songs with relevant ease, some hooks are apparent sporadically while the choruses end up to be not that fascinating for the genre's likes.
There's a tendency for bringing the instrumentation in the foreground, just like in the late 70s/early 80s (e.g. VAN HALEN), with some melodies to entertain your 'boulevard' Rock likes, but nothing overwhelming in general. ROXANNE does stay away from the typical 80s American Rock cliches but - on the other hand - you need to have some of this cliches for this kind of Hard Rock music. That's why songs like Cherry Bay or Coming For You will probably stick more to your guts.
With a - somehow - 'dry' production lacking the live/arena feel, Roxanne is an album you can possibly live without. Proceed if a dedicated CD hunter, though.

P.S.: A cover version on WILD CHERRY's Play That Funky Music Disco/Funk/Rock hit is included here.