Released eight years after the brilliant Orchestra Luna album on Epic, the eclectic music of Rick Berlin takes a more pop aim, which can be described as "progressive underground." Emerging from the same Boston scene as Willie Alexander and the Nervous Eaters, the commercial local hits "It's You I... [+] Expand

Released eight years after the brilliant Orchestra Luna album on Epic, the eclectic music of Rick Berlin takes a more pop aim, which can be described as "progressive underground." Emerging from the same Boston scene as Willie Alexander and the Nervous Eaters, the commercial local hits "It's You I Love," "Over The Hill," and "Don't Stop Me From Crying" garnered them a huge audience, while tunes like "Can I Fall in Love" and "Airlift" were explorations in stretching the boundaries. Taking the Beatles into Journey's arena rather than the world of the Velvet Underground, this album is actually producer Bill Pfordresher's re-working of an album cut when the band was known as the original Luna. They had dropped the Orchestra from the name and replaced Randy Roos with Steven Paul Perry, giving the band a harder edge. The "Hollywood" 45 was released in between Orchestra Luna and Berlin Airlift under the name Luna. The band had a deal in hand with Cleveland International (yet another CBS label -- this album as well as the former were on CBS affiliated labels) but the producer of Luna held out for too much money, keeping the band from signing, and changing history. This album would be dramatically different had the original Luna tapes seen the light of day. Also, "Don't Stop Me From Crying," a driving ballad with superb vocals that Queen made popular, was pretty established locally, making it difficult to re-launch a song people were already familiar with. Aerosmith faced this when "Dream On" charted twice nationally, once because of Boston airplay, and later because other cities picked up on it. Berlin Airlift, its wonderful music aside, is a perfect example of politics interfering in the recording process. It, unfortunately, is a big part of this album's legacy. The film themes run throughout, as usual. The album's back cover dressed up like a frame from celluloid, and the line "sad movies they take me away" makes the emphasis. The incessant chant of "Don't Stop Me" is a grabber, and not your usual radio hook. Rick Kinscherf Berlin's lyrics are direct and controversial as well as innovative. "Over the Hill" is the reverse of Gary Puckett's "Young Girl," about an older man, out "to rob the cradle," dating a seventeen year old. Stevie Knicks worked that theme as well, but, somehow, a woman going there isn't as frightening for radio programmers as men in a spring/summer fling. The song was a big smash in Boston, but Handshake Records was busy putting out the Pope's spoken word disc, which might've been a financial detriment -- executive Ron Alexenburg's label went by the wayside, further affecting this effort. Jane Balmond's keyboards and Rick Berlin's performances are nicely complemented by Steven Paul Perry's Mick Ronson-style guitar, and tunes like "My Heart Ain't Big Enough for You" and "It's You I Love" bring the original Orchestra Luna concept to a place where rock fans can appreciate it without having to think too much. Despite its production flaws, the sound is a bit thinner than the band was used to, and some of the material having been overworked, Berlin Airlift is still a very good document of an important band. They would re-emerge as Rick Berlin: The Movie after this, recording more radio-friendly songs, many of which have yet to see the light of day. Epic/Legacy would be wise to combine Orchestra Luna and Berlin Airlift with some of the more popular rarities on a single CD as vital early work from Rick Berlin, who continues to write, record, and perform his unique musical vision. ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide [-] Collapse

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