Hardware '86 - Hardware '86 EP

[Mr.AOR]

Now we're talking, 6 tracks of awesomeness...

Hardware '86 is Rune Aalberg Alstad and Sigurd Ekle 

Hardware '86 started as a study project at the Norwegian University of Technology and Science (NTNU), aiming to find the true sound of 80's rock using modern equipment. This EP is a collection of songs written and produced in 2012 (1, 4, 5, 6), in 2013 (2) and in 2016 (3). 

All songs were written, played and produced by Hardware '86. Guest musicians: David Saylor (1, 2, 3, 5), Snorre Valen (2, 4), Olav Slagsvold (6) and Bjørn Bakken (5). 

https://hardware86.bandcamp.com/releases

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 19, 2019 by Mr.AOR

[lettard]

Yeah,really like this,a hidden gem that popped up   cd release soon Ive read.

[gener8tr]

It's pleasant enough sounding, but you cannot capture the true sound of the 80's in 2019 (or 2012, or whenever they recorded these tracks).

Most of us here actually were around in the 80's to remember the culture, style, fashion, vibe, aura, etc.  Those of you who were not... sorry, it's impossible to fully explain; akin to trying to describe color to someone who is blind.

I graduated from high school in 1986, so I am this band's target audience.  I appreciate their effort, but their time "studying" at school would have been better spent watching FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH on repeat (preferably on Betamax).  That movie does a damn good job of describing color to the blind.

[Glen]

jeez mate fair enough.

look it's a decent EP. I listened to it on Spotify. Sounds pretty cool.

I actually think it is possible to create the 80s sound and can think of several bands which sound just as awesome as anything from the 80s. 

[Nightrain]

I like this one, pretty good, will buy the disc when it's out

[Ponen]

Don't know what to make of this one. Just listened to the EP once and I must say it didn't do much. 

[Stefan]

From AOR Blvd Records:

 

TRACKLISTING

1.  ARENA  (4:16)

2.  SHARE THIS LOVE  (3:11)

3.  SUMMER OF '91  (3:37)

4.  SAGITTARIUS  (2:35)

5.  T L M  (3:47)

6.  CHEEZYFICTION  (3:54)

7.  BONUS TRACK - I'M YOUR MAN [DEMO

This self-titled debut album from Hardware ’86 is all about capturing the sound and vibe of late eighties melodic rock and AOR music, staying true to both the sound production aesthetics and the genre. Four of the songs comes from Sigurd´s master thesis at NTNU back in 2012, where Rune contributed with songwriting, guitars and some vocals. The scope of the project was to recreate the sound of the late eighties soft rock productions, which both of us had a big heart for. In addition to those four songs, we made the nostalgic song ‘Summer of ’91’ (2016), which is about an eighties rocker that is sensing a change in the music scene, and especially ‘Nirvana’´s big breakthrough with the album ‘Nevermind’ at the end of 1991. So, the summer of ’91 was the last summer before eighties rock finally got outdated, at least when it comes to the big commercial side. The last song, ‘Share This Love’, is inspired by the Swedish AOR band, Work of Art, which we were completely blown away by the first time we heard it.
 

Influences for the album:

Toto, Journey, Def Leppard, Bad English, Work of Art, Vince DiCola, Starship, Van Halen, TNT

 

BIO:

The band Hardware ’86 takes you back to the sound and vibe of the late 1980’s hard rock scene. They celebrate a shameless cocktail of heavy guitars, soft synths, melodic leads and big 80s drums. The band consist of Rune Aalberg Alstad (guitar / vocals) and Sigurd Ekle (bass / vocals) and misc session musicians (complete list below).

Rune and Sigurd met at NTNU (Norwegian University of Technology and Science), while they studied Music technology together. They had a common musical passion for shameless eighties melodic rock, totally different (and "forbidden") from the rest of the students making electro acoustic music ('pling-plong') and putting microphones on a bathtub!

Rune managed to convince Sigurd to do a master thesis where the aim was to recreate the sound of the late eigthies sound aestehtics. This was the start of the band. We had a lot of fun exploring eigthies sounds and vibes, and writing, recording and producing eighties songs. We even got to know the secret recipe behind the famous guitar sound on the song 10000 Lovers (in one) by TNT, and recreated this process in the studio. Check out the monster guitar sound in the song T L M from our current album release.

See you back in ’86!

 

Line-up:
Rune Aalberg Alstad – guitars/vocals
Sigurd Ekle – bass/background vocals/synth

The album also features guest spots from
David Saylor – vocals (1,2,3,5)
Snorre Valen – synth (2,4)
Olav Slagsvold - saxophone (6)
Bjørn Bakken – backing vocals (5)
Josie Bernard – drums (all tracks)

[Geoff]

Wow, how'd I miss this thread?! Checking this out immediately. Sounds very nice. 

[lettard]

First 3 tracks are brilliant,but for me the others...especially cheezyfiction don't hit the mark.