CHERIE CURRIE – REVERIE

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In 1975, a fifteen year old kid by the name of Cherie Currie was discovered by producer Kim Fowley and was picked to front the all female band The Runaways. Her tenure with The Runaways was a short one as she left the band in 1977, but their ride together was a wild and crazy one that left an impact for generations to come. After the band dissolved, the members went their separate ways venturing into solo music careers and other creative outlets. The majority of attention throughout the years seems to have gone to Lita Ford and Joan Jett who both have had lengthy and successful solo music careers. Currie dabbled with music and acting, but also found a new found passion in the art form of chainsaw wood carving art. She published an updated version of her memoirs entitled Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway in 2010 that became a best seller and inspired The Runaways movie.

Fans have been wondering for many years if she would ever record another album. Her fans received a huge surprise back in 2013 when she and former Runaways band mate Lita Ford recorded a new Christmas song entitled “Rock This Christmas Down.” Now, after 35 years of waiting and anticipating, Currie has just released a brand new studio album entitled Reverie on her own through iTunes. It’s a collection of ten songs that features her son Jake Hays, Lita Ford, Mitch Perry and the last works of the late Kim Fowley (he wrote/co-wrote four of the new tracks and co-produced them as well) who passed away on 1/15/15 from a battle with cancer. I’m sure many fans are wondering what the material will sound like and how Currie’s vocals are after all of these years. If you’re like me, you’re going to be pleasantly surprised with the answers to both of those questions.

The album opens up with the title track and quickly establishes that Currie has come a long way from the days of “Cherry Bomb” and although she’s had no formal training, her vocals sound strong and polished. The title is an up-tempo rocker that has Currie’s son pulling a Prince move and playing every instrument on the track. “Inner You” is a slower song with a bit of a bluesy feel flowing through it and some tasty guitar being supplied by Nick Maybury. “Shades of Me” is another slower number that is a duet with Currie and her son Jake Hays, who proves that he has some impressive musical genes as well; which isn’t that big of a surprise to many of us. A big tip of the hat goes to Mitch Perry who contributes some outstanding slide guitar to the track.

“Believe” is definitely one of the stand out tracks on the album and that’s not to take away from the strength of the other songs. It’s a song that excels on so many levels including lyrically as well as the beautiful orchestra arrangement that we’re treated to on the track. Jonathan Barrick did the orchestra arrangement as well as the French horn arrangement on this stellar track. There are more strings included on the inspirational closing track “Another Dream” which really add a beautiful layer to this uplifting song. “Is It Day or Night” and “American Nights” are two songs from The Runaways debut album that are re-recorded and both have Lita Ford joining Currie on vocals. Those two songs are a lot of fun and very upbeat and really compliment the newer, slower tracks on the album.

Overall, I was surprised by this album for more reasons than one. Currie’s vocals are pretty damn strong on this album and a thing of beauty in their delivery of emotion and conviction on many of the tracks. She started out at the age of fifteen with no vocal training and even admits that she doesn’t sing a lot today, but you would never know it. She shows a lot of range and depth on this album that I am sure will surprise quite a few people. Her son Jake Hays did an excellent job on here as well serving as producer as well as co-writing seven tracks and playing the bulk of all the instruments on this album as well. If you’re expecting that raw punk/pop sound that you got with The Runaways, then you will be disappointed, but I encourage you to give the album a fair listen. I won’t lie to you; it’s a little mellower than I was expecting, but it is a thing of beauty. It still manages to rock, even without turning it up all the way to eleven.

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by Johnny Price, Lead Senior Journalist