Unless you own all of Aldo Nova's albums (which, admit it, is unlikely) or 1992's hard-to-find 18-track A Portrait of Aldo Nova, you probably haven't had a proper opportunity to assess this diminutive Canadian singer/guitarist/keyboardist's impact on early-Eighties rock. Sure, most of the 15 tracks on The Best of Aldo Nova — five songs from each of the former Aldo Caporuscio's three albums released by Portrait Records between 1981 and 1985 — sound as dated as the hit single "Fantasy," which kicks off this collection. But there's something oddly comforting about such sonically smooth and lush Billy Squier-meets-John Waite songs as "Foolin' Yourself," "Heartless," "Cry Baby Cry" and the schmaltzy love ballad Nova deigns to call "Ball and Chain." Each album (1981's self-titled debut, 1983's synth-dominated Subject…Aldo Nova and 1985's poor-performing Twitch) proved less successful than the previous one, and by the end of his Portrait run, Nova was collaborating with outside writers, which leaves the last third of this chronological set a bit light.
The man would go on to record two more records for other labels before reinventing himself as a major songwriter for artists like Celine Dion and American Idol darling Clay Aiken.
Go figure …
Track Listing:
1) Fantasy
2) Foolin' Yourself
3) Ball and Chain
4) Hot Love
5) You're My Love
6) Monkey On Your Back
7) Hey Operator
8) Cry Baby Cry
10) Always Be Mine
11) Tonight (Lift Me Up)
12) Rumours of You
13) Heartless
14) Fallen Angel
15) Twitch
Printer Friendly Page
Send to a Friend
