User:Misa443/sandbox/info/The Destiny

The Destiny is twelfth studio album released by British-American rock group Rook in January 1988. It was produced by David Richards, which previously worked with artists such as Queen and David Bowie. It is a mixture of hard rock and classic rock, somewhat returning to the original sound of the band.

Album recieved much anticipation which lasted somewhat shorter than three years, but the critics gave generally positive reviews, noting the band's return to traditional sound they maintained.

=Background= After the commercial disaster of album Why released in 1985, and much more successful tour conducted in over 30 American and European cities, group's leader, Rick Roorke, proposed the band to return to their original sound which was maintained for almost 15 years.

""We could've just sat at home and eat crap, we could've decided to throw up everything just because we weren't always get used on failing. It could've been just over in a blink of an eye, but at the very last moment, there it was! A 'back to basic' idea. Band mates agreed just after the tour." Rook shortly after organised the press conference in May 1985, mainly wanting to explain the following "hiatus" which would later occur for nearly two years, and the upcoming sales of band-featured merchandise, supposedly recovering the group from financial crisis caused by Why. In the beginning, lead guitarist Eric May and drummer Paul Kinley were reluctant for the idea proposed by Roorke, thinking that "new times have come" and "we must be modern". After the end of Why Tour, former band members changed their minds, because of the financial limbo they were facing, thinking they would gain more attention from their die-hard fans. ""We were just bathing in poverty after Why, it really made us think: Why? Why we wanted to be such ahead of the decade and destroy the trademark? The Destiny surely fullfilled our goals, even though we were basically brain-washed by this whole 'modern' idea in '85 and sometimes ever since, we were content of our old sound.""

Band has chosen to record at Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland, lacking the necessary peace and quiet they would find "only in the mountains", by the words of Roorke. Some overdubs were also done at Olympic and Townhouse Studios, mainly throughout the August and September 1987.

=Production and recording=

Mountain Studios (September 1986)
This set of sessions was the the most productive, mainly because of the new instruments brought in by Richards. These included Roland Drum Synthesizer R-8, Oberheim OB-X3 and Mellotron, which is characteristic for its quiet and mellow sound, hence the name (Mellotron is fairly not a new instrument, being popularized in mid-1960s).

Many demos of later songs would be introduced, but wouldn't be recorded at this time, except for song Hiatus, which was written by Eric May and mixed just two months later. Demos prepared for the album were: Memories, Yesterday (Beatles cover), Over The Bridge, Still Life, title song The Destiny, Carry On, and five other songs which did not make the final cut, and were left out for two upcoming albums, Question and Are We There Yet...? (Come Here, Lonesome, Blue Eyes, Miss You Baby and We Are Not Leaving You).

Mountain Studios (October 1986 – June 1987)
Sessions were slightly longer than the previous ones, but Richards thought they would be the most productive in the entire band's career. This was denied by Rook bassist, Michael Trent, saying that "every little time we took [for recording] wouldn't surpass Why", meaning that these sessions were the hardest to make in terms of money, time and relationship between band members.

First vocal overdubs were carried in October 1986 on song Still Life, while Really? was recorded in whole shortly after, during November. The Destiny would be started by recording the backing track but would be shelved until January 1987. Yesterday would be completely recorded between November 1986 and January 1987, while the other demoed songs would be produced from January to June 1987. Three new songs would be also be started on the same month: Rock Harder, The Stamp, and Trademark.

Olympic and Townhouse Studios (August-September 1987)
These sessions mainly consisted of overdubs, which would be taken on Over The Bridge (horn section orchestrated by David Wilkes) and Still Life (additional backing vocals). Kinley disliked the studios, saying that the available sound effects weren't fullfiling the band's needs, but David Richards was really content with the final product, and cheered the group up, buy thinking this would come out "too bloody great". ""They were literally crying for help after the recordings, and always wanted to sound better, and better, and better... They looked so exhausted by the end of September, but I said this will turn out 'too bloody great'! (laugh) I was really satisfied with the given result, knowing that they had some tragic moments and conflicts in the past. Everything turned out pretty well.""

The last overdubs were carried in mid-September 1987, when an orchestra was added to Yesterday, recorded at BBC Studios in Maida Vale, London.