| The Work Tapes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Demo album by | |
| Released | 1998 (recorded 1991) |
| Genre | Pop, Funk, Soul, R&B |
| Length | 44:28 |
| Label | Blueprint Records |
| Producer | Glenn Hughes Geoff Downes |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [1] |
The Work Tapes is an album of demos recorded by vocalist Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple/ Black Sabbath/ Trapeze) and keyboardist Geoff Downes (Asia /Buggles /Yes). The sessions were originally recorded in June 1991, but did not receive an official release until 1998.
By 1991, Glenn Hughes’ solo career had yet to take off, he had spent much of the eighties in short lived musical collaborations with the likes of Pat Thrall, Black Sabbath and Gary Moore he had failed to establish himself long-term. This was, in part due to drug issues that had first surfaced in the seventies, while he was in Deep Purple and continued throughout the following decade.
Hughes had first met keyboardist Geoff Downes when they were introduced to one another by Downes's then- Asia band-mate Pat Thrall (who had worked with Hughes in Hughes/Thrall). Downes had joined Hughes to record keyboard parts for an intended solo album financed by Bronze Records, but that record was subsequently shelved and remains unreleased. Downes also joined Hughes to play keyboards on a brief 1991 Trapeze reunion tour.
In June 1991, Hughes teamed up Downes again and the two spent a week in Nomis Studios, London. They were there at the suggestion of their publishing company to write material for a new Hughes solo album.
For the sessions the pair decided to write material in a more mainstream pop and soul direction, rather than the hard and progressive rock they were associated with. The pair wrote songs at a fast pace during their one week in the studio, writing more than a song a day.
Due to a number of reasons the project did not go beyond that week and the material was shelved. The demos were leaked and became commonly available as bootlegs.
In 1998, Blueprint Records decided to give the rehearsal tapes an official release in the form of The Work Tapes. The tracks were not added to and the sound-quality of the release is not comparable to that of a studio album. It is a document of interest to fans of Hughes and Downes, rather than a complete work.
The content of The Work Tapes was released again in 2005 in a two-CD set entitled Roads of Destiny. This release was labelled as an album by Geoff Downes and Glenn Hughes, but it features only one other song with Hughes; a cover version of the Buggles song Video Killed the Radio Star, which was originally released on Downes's 1992 solo album Vox Humana. The rest of Roads to Destiny is instrumental music that does not feature Hughes.
All songs written by Downes and Hughes
The Buggles are an English new wave band formed in London in 1977 by singer and bassist Trevor Horn and keyboardist Geoff Downes. They are best known for their 1979 debut single "Video Killed the Radio Star", which topped the UK Singles Chart and reached number one in 15 other countries and was chosen as the song to launch MTV in 1981.
Glenn Hughes is an English musician, best known for playing bass and performing vocals in the hard rock band Trapeze and in the Mk. III and IV line-ups of Deep Purple, as well as briefly fronting Black Sabbath in the mid-1980s.
Trapeze were an English rock band from Cannock, Staffordshire. Formed in 1969, the band originally featured former The Montanas members John Jones and Terry Rowley (keyboards), and former Finders Keepers members Glenn Hughes, Mel Galley and Dave Holland (drums). Jones and Rowley left the band following the release of their self-titled debut album in 1970, with the lineup of Hughes, Galley and Holland continuing as a trio. After the release of Medusa later in 1970 and You Are the Music... We're Just the Band in 1972, Hughes left Trapeze in 1973 to join Deep Purple.
Seventh Star is the twelfth studio album by English rock band Black Sabbath. Released on 28 January 1986 in the United States and on 21 February 1986 in the United Kingdom, it features founding guitarist Tony Iommi alongside musicians Geoff Nicholls, Eric Singer, and Dave Spitz, playing keyboards, drums, and bass, respectively, and Glenn Hughes, ex-Deep Purple and ex-Trapeze vocalist, as lead singer. The album was the group's first release without bassist and primary lyricist Geezer Butler, who left the band in 1984 after the Born Again tour. It was originally written, recorded, and intended to be the first solo album by Iommi. Because of the pressures from Warner Bros. Records and the prompting of band manager Don Arden, the record was billed as Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi. Despite the issues behind the release's production, it earned moderate commercial success, reaching #27 in the UK and #78 on the Billboard 200 chart.
"Into the Lens" is a song written by Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes. It was originally released in 1980 by progressive rock band Yes, of which Horn and Downes were a part, as a part of the album Drama, before being reworked as "I Am a Camera" for the 1981 album Adventures in Modern Recording by the Buggles, a duo consisting of Horn and Downes; both versions were released as singles, with the Yes single being re-titled "Into the Lens (I Am a Camera)".
Geoffrey Downes is an English keyboardist who gained fame as a member of the new wave group the Buggles with Trevor Horn, the progressive rock band Yes, and the supergroup Asia.
From Now On... is a solo studio album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes. It was released in 1994 and had a distinctive AOR sound.
Burning Japan Live is a live album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist and bassist Glenn Hughes. It was recorded at the Club Citta in Kawasaki, Japan on Tuesday 24 May and Wednesday 25 May 1994 in support of the studio album From Now On....
Feel is a studio album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, and Trapeze vocalist and bassist Glenn Hughes. It was released in 1995 on Zero Corporation and SPV records and was Hughes' fourth solo studio album.
Addiction is a studio album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes. It was released in 1996 on Zero Corporation, SPV and Shrapnel records and was Hughes’ fifth solo studio album.
Talk About It EP is an EP by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist/ bassist Glenn Hughes. It was released in 1997 on SPV and was taken from the album Addiction. It includes three previously unreleased live tracks.
The Way It Is is a studio album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist/ bassist Glenn Hughes. It was released in 1999 on Nippon Crown, SPV and Shrapnel Records and was Hughes’ sixth solo studio album.
Return of Crystal Karma (often abbreviated to R.O.C.K.) is a studio album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes. The album was released 19 of June 2000 on SPV and Nippon records.
Songs in the Key of Rock is a studio album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist/ bassist Glenn Hughes. It was his ninth solo studio album and was released in 2003 on Frontier and Pony Canyon records.
Soulfully Live In The City Of Angels is a live album and DVD by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist/ bassist Glenn Hughes. It was recorded at Sound Image Studio, Hollywood on January 11, 2004 in front of select group of guests. It was released in 2004 on Frontiers Records.
Hughes/Thrall was a musical project formed in 1982 by former Deep Purple and Trapeze bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes and guitarist Pat Thrall.
Hughes/Thrall is the self-titled, debut album by musical collaborators Glenn Hughes and Pat Thrall. It was released in 1982 on Boulevard Records and is, to date, their only album. The single "Beg, Borrow Or Steal" peaked at #79 in the US in early 1983.
Hughes Turner Project (HTP) was a musical project formed in the 2001 by bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes and vocalist Joe Lynn Turner. They released two albums, a live album and one joint project with Mikhail Men.
Different Stages – The Best of Glenn Hughes is a compilation album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist/ bassist Glenn Hughes. The album was released in 2002 on SPV records.
