80's Stallone - Hotline (2012)

London based SynthWave producer 80s Stallone has always been at the top of the scene. Having been around since the scenes early days, back on MySpace, he could be considered an OG of Outrun. and also a staple on these pages. One of the unsung heroes of 80s synth music, Stallone today releases his new album, Hotline, which is twelve tracks of robotic, romantic, retro awesomeness.

Hotline is a collection of a few tracks we’ve heard before, but mostly new material, that perfectly displays why 80s Stallone is so revered amongst fans of SynthWave. Driven kicks the album off, it;s a pumping track we’ve heard before and although being a high energy opener it’s an odd choice for track one, it doesn’t really represent the rest of the album, being almost Psy-Trance in places. Daylight follows, now this is more like it. Daylight is a slick retro synth track with some haunting, but infectious vocoded vocals and a bright, reverby lead line, that lends itself to the nostalgic contemplation that this album so expounds. Summer Lovers is another well played Dreamwave track that was on repeat round these parts when it first broke ground which gets you in a comfortable beach vibe before smacking you in the face with the Electro Funk of Work Your Body, which rocks B-Boy Beats and robo vocals against warm, emotional melodies. unfortunately, Quantum Leap isn’t 80s Stallone’s cover of the TV show them tune, but what it is though is a post-Italo Boogie bassline-fest. The albums highlights come thick and fast, Smoke & Mirrors dreamy Sci-Fi atmosphere nicely follows Super Pursuit Mode’s futuristic dystopian vibe. Radioactive brings a deep 80s Funk while Pictures begins the albums trail out with big Italo fashion with soaring solo work and hypnotic vocoding. Expectation powers the album toward it;s collusion with pulsating, moody snyths, before the album sees itself out with Time, an slick combination of machine beats, sparkling leads and classic SynthPop vocoded vocals. For lovers of synthesizer music, of all kinds, 80s Stallone’s Hotline can be considered pretty essential, an intelligent excursion into vintage synth music with a modern take.