Stan Meissner - Windows to Light

The first time I heard "One Chance" I was blown away. There was something about the song that caught me right in the feels. It's strange, despite all of the music I've been exposed to over the years, the number of songs that have truly gotten under my skin is relatively small. Top of mind at the moment I'll list a few, because we all like lists.

• "Shooz" by Styx, yeah I played it to the point where I can't really hear it anymore.
• "Special Girl" by Eddie Schwartz
• "Why Should the Devil Have all the Good Music" by Larry Norman
• "Might as Well be on Mars" by The Pukka Orchestra
• "Roller" by April Wine
  

Of course as I start writing things down my brain starts adding more and more, "What about this one?" So maybe the list is a little longer than I thought. Let's just say "One Chance" was in the right place at the right time. Objectively I can tell you that this is not the best song ever recorded, but there was something about it that just got to me. Oddly when Eddie Money covered the song on his '86 album Can't Hold Back I didn't care for his version. Weird.

This is a hell of a way to start, I'm already off track. 1986 was a year full of great music, and this album spent a lot of time on the turntable. I still find it strange I never picked up his 1983 album Dangerous Games (I have it now) when Windows to Light was still fresh. For whatever reason this was where I started, and I would later pick up Undertow when it came out in 1992, and even find a way to get his "band" Metropolis, the album he recorded with Peter Fredette on bass and lead vocals. That was back in 2000, and that was it. That isn't to say Mr. Meissner isn't involved in music - he's just behind the scenes for the most part now.

But this album was special. Sure some of the drum sounds now are pretty dated, but boy howdy back in the day this was as cool as cool got, and those reverse gates and wet splats were dripping with '80s happy juice. Stan has one of those great voices that's just different enough to be recognizable but still accessible. 

Then there was Stan's guitar playing. Just enough rock with tasty leads that didn't sound overly processed. Gotta love a overdriven strat that's pushed to the front of the mix.

I am still partial to the first side as right out of the gate Stan delivers three killers in a row: "I Want Everything" a song that was more or less my mantra through 1986, and he followed that up with "One Chance" the song that got me to lay down my cash for the album, and then the wicked "Heart of Ice" which is the antithesis of a squishy love song. This isn't to say the other songs on the album are duds, they're good songs and I still enjoy listening to the album. He does still manage to throw in the mandatory ballad, and "Hold Me" is a great big song and a solid finale to the album, but this is first and foremost a rock record.

The band supporting Stan here was solid. Peter Cardinali played bass, and a few years later would join Ian Thomas in The Boomers, in addition to running his own record label. Mike Sloski  played drums, and Kevan McKenzie was credited with electronic drums, so I guess he programmed the machine. Of course every decent '80s album needed someone to program the Fairlight and on this one that was Rob Yale.

Years ago now I e.mailed Mr. Meissner a couple of times and he always wrote back and was very gracious and would answer my seemingly endless pedantic questions. I don't know if it's a licensing issue, or if A&M has just buried Stan in the vaults like they have with so many other artists. None of his albums are available on streaming platforms, or available to buy on iTunes. Which is a shame as this was a great album (they all were), and for fans of guitar driven '80s AOR this was about as good as it got. Too bad they pulled the curtains on Stan's records.

If you're able to find a CD copy, you'll be pleased to find three bonus tracks that weren't on the record. They're decent songs, and anything new from Stan is always a good thing.