HandMade

This album is a collection of newly released masters, demos and live cuts personally chosen from the artist's archives. The live stuff is from gigs by The Larry Hoppen Band which only gigged for a year but was BURNIN'!!! The studio masters and demos cover from early 90s to present. These CDs are burned one at a time at Larry's studio, hence the title. Fans from Japan, Europe and the US have been raving about it. If you liked Orleans and wanna hear what Larry's been doing since the band (and, on the side, toward the latter of the band's 25 years) this is for you. There's humor and social commentary together with great grooves, catchy tunes and family-friendly lyrics. Hardly boring or whitebread, just no gratuitous sensationalism. "Like A Zoo" is a big hit with parents as it describes life with twin toddler girls for a late-in-life Dad. "A Season To Remember" was used by ESPN to promote their show Baseball Tonight after the amazing year of '98 when McGwire and Sosa inspired awe around the world. There's a faithful remake of Orleans' '79 smash "Love Takes Time", a couple of gorgeous ballads, the very Beatle-esque and poignant "Love Is Love" and several mid- and uptempo cuts for a great balance. Some 70s artists just get better with time. Larry Hoppen definitely ranks among them. By the way, if you get a chance, see the Voices of Classic Rock (VCR). You'll catch Larry with Bobby Kimball (TOTO), Mickey Thomas (STARSHIP) and John Cafferty together, among others, speaking of getting better with time. Birds of a feather.