If the ’80s were your decade, then you’ve probably heard at least one song by Emmy winning US singer-songwriter Stan Bush, possibly without even realising it. From giving Jean-Claude Van Damme kung fu flicks Bloodsport, and Kickboxer a surge of synth-enhanced adrenaline with ‘Fight to Survive’ and ‘Never Surrender’, to giving criminally overlooked Charlie Sheen sci-fi ghost car movie The Wraith an extra helping of AOR cheese with ‘Hearts vs Heads’, Bush is arguably most famous for his musical contribution to 1986 animated classic Transformers: The Movie – ‘The Touch’. 

Yes, the man with the unlikely showbiz name who co-wrote the song Mark Wahlberg butchers hilariously in Boogie Nights, is not only alive and well, but going strong with his fourteenth(!) studio album. A collection of songs that sound like they were airlifted directly from 1987, Dare to Dream (L.A. Records) is the perfect feelgood response to the unrelenting misery of 2020. 

Gritty opener ‘Born to Fight’ is so uncompromisingly 1980s that it’s currently being used to advertise two Japanese Netflix anime shows, while the uplifting title track and the slower ‘The Times of Your Life’ echo with delicate touches of Bryan Adams. Other highlights include ‘The 80’s’, an unsurprisingly glowing paean to that particular decade of rock awesomeness which positively reeks of Def Leppard and Van Halen, the Survivor-esque ‘Heat of Attack’, the early Bon Jovi keyboard appeal of ‘True Believer’, and the mighty ‘Never Give Up’ which desperately wants to be ‘The Touch’ and almost succeeds.

Classic sounding hard rock featuring big, sugary keyboards and big choruses, if David Hasselhoff rocked your retro socks with ‘True Survivor’ a few years ago, then Dare to Dream is the album for you.

Buy Dare to Dream here: https://stanbush.com/

8/10

GARY ALCOCK