David Roberts - The Missing Years (2011)

Posted By: JET 1

Date: Sept. 4, 2025

After 1982’s ‘All Dressed Up…’ DAVID ROBERTS concentrated as songwriter. His compositions can be heard on albums by artists like Starship, Bad English, Lee Aaron, Signal, House Of Lords, Jimmy Barnes, Boulevard, and more.
“The Missing Years” features the demos Roberts recorded himself to showcase his songs to other artists, managers and label executives. Roberts performs most the instruments, with some guitars performed by other musicians, including talented Stan Meissner. This is music written between the ’80s & ’90s, so you can expect the AOR / Melodic Rock style of that era, very well produced & recorded. And there’s some real gems from the genre here.
The album starts with a classic AOR tune, “Run Back”, sounding a lot like mid-to-late ’80s STARSHIP. It’s followed by two smooth tracks; the uptempo “Misunderstood” makes my mind wander into GRAHAM GOBLE’S ENCOUNTER with its nice beat, whereas the atmosphere of “Gone But Not Forgotten” is similar to ROBBIE BUCHANAN. The latter having a Westcoast/pop touch and nice strings to back it up.
The semi-ballad “Run Away With Me” feels like something DAVID PACK and AMBROSIA might have recorded. Even though these are demos, you really get nice arrangements on this album.

According to Roberts, “Forbidden Fruit” was penned just after finished writing ‘Tough Times Don’t Last’ with John Waite and Jonathan Cain for Bad English. He was in the zone and thought this could be a perfect song for them to record. Unfortunately the band broke up soon after. This is a killer uptempo melodic rocker with great guitar work.
‘One Soul’ is very anthemic, and it takes you on a journey to unusual places, melodically. It’s something Mick Jones might have written for FOREIGNER.
‘Gone But Not Forgotten’ could have been on his first record ‘All Dressed Up,’ and you can imagine Jeff Porcaro and Steve Lukather really digging this and infusing their energy that would have brought this to life.

And the bonus tracks are very good too. The great Fergie Frederiksen did a version of “Love Waits For No-One” prior to falling ill. Featuring Stan Meissner’s guitar work, the production quality is superior than the other tracks, an it’s another highlight.

This Avenue Of Allies release features a new remastering, different from the early Japanese CD, and sound quality is better. And you have 2 excellent bonus tracks. We also find an extensive booklet including lyrics, new liner notes and track-by-track comments by David Roberts to every song on the record.
A little gem for all classic AOR, Westcoast, Melodic Rock fans and music collectors.

EAC Log

Exact Audio Copy V1.0 beta 3 from 29. August 2011

EAC extraction logfile from 2. July 2013, 19:46

David Roberts / The Missing Years

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Tracklist :::
01. Run Back
02. Misunderstood
03. Gone But Not Forgotten
04. Until Your Heart`s Content
05. Run Away With Me
06. Forbidden Fruit
07. Nothing Matters Tonight
08. I Love You So Much It Hurts
09. Higher Power
10. One Soul
11. No Ordinary Girl
12. Cry Me A River Tonight
13. I Still Belive
14. Love Waits For No One[bonus track]
15. The Sun Will Rise Again [bonus track]

Players :::
David Roberts - all vocals, keyboards, arrangements and programming
Anthony Vanderburgh - guitar on track 9
John Albani - guitar on track 10
Stan Meissner - guitar on tracks 13, 14, 15

All songs written by David Roberts, exept "Run Back" written by David Roberts and Randy Goodrum

CD Info :::
David Roberts – The Missing Years (2011)

Label: Avenue Of Allies Music
Catalog#: Avenue 1109 0029
Barcode: 4041257000555
Format: CD
Country: Germany
Copyright © 2011 Avenue Of Allies Music
Released: ℗©2011 Avenue Of Allies Music
Genre: Jazz-Rock, Prog Rock
Style: Fusion, Jazz Rock, Progressive Rock

Additional info:
Limited to 1000 copies. Slipcase individually numbered.

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