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CELEBRATE LIFE WITH 3rd Party's "ALIVE"

Rob Jackson | Hampton Bays, New York | 01/05/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Alive" is one of a few thoroughly-enjoyable pop albums released that year that celebrated life and helped you escape your troubles. Distributed via A&M Records, through an arrangement with DV8 Records, the album boasted powerful lead vocals by Maria Christensen and strong supporting vocals by Karmine Alers and Elaine Borja."Alive" saw several major promotional events to bring the act and project to the attention of the record buying public. These included club concerts and release parties in many major US cities, a heavy radio presence, and the inclusion of the lead single, "Can U Feel It" in the critically acclaimed gay film "Kiss Me Guido." (The single also received heavy radio play on many of the nations hottest Top40/Dance radio stations including NY's WKTU and Poughkeepsie's WSPK.)The album contains 12 hot tracks, many co-written by Christensen, including "Waiting for Tonight" a song that would two years later solidify another performer's star power, and an inspired cover of Gary Wright's "Love Is Alive". A powerful mix of R&B tinged dance tracks, mid-tempo grooves, and searing ballads make this a well-rounded release. Throw in an extended remix of the lead track at the end to bookend the album and you've got another reason to celebrate.Lest one thinks of 3rd Party as only a dance act, give the mid and lower tempo tracks and ballads, "If My Heart Could Talk," "Second Nature," "Step By Step," and "So Inspired" a listen ... You will be impressed!BONUS BACKGROUND INFO:
#1 - The timing of the album's release came during a period where A&M's parent company (Polygram) was being absorbed into the Universal Records Music group and, subsequently, the promotion of this album took a back burner. Without a record label to back it the album didn't stand a chance of making it to its third single#2 - Lead vocalist Maria Christensen's vocal style has been compared to the style of another pop diva, Taylor Dayne. #3- Christensen's '93 self titled solo project for Atlantic Records was also overlooked by the record buying public (mainly due to poor album promotion). It contained her original solo performance of "If My Heart Could Talk" as well as a pleasant mix of dance and pop tracks."