Exposé Online banner

Exposé Online

Not just outside the box, but denying the existence of boxes.
Covering music from the fringes since 1993.

Reviews

Tin Pan Alley — Tin Pan Alley
(Garden of Delights CD 189, 1981/2020, CD / LP)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2026-03-05

Tin Pan Alley Cover art

Perhaps one has heard of an album titled Opus: Destroy by a group called Irmin’s Way? That was how it was presented when the Kissing Spell label released it (on LP and CD) back in the mid-90s; it was essentially a bootleg of a recording by a band called Tin Pan Alley which had never been officially released. The recording at hand has finally been released in remastered form with the correct band name. The group was founded in Baden-Württemberg around 1978 by singer and bassist Ernst Sinn, who also composed the band’s material, and after a period of lineup changes was joined by keyboard player Gerhard Link and guitarist Tom R. — and later, for purposes of this recording, drummer Fuzzy Besserer. After a period of time gigging, studio owner Dieter Ege learned of the band and offered them a chance to record in his studio whenever it wasn’t previously booked, so they recorded the four tracks at hand as a demo tape in 1981, from which about fifteen or twenty cassette copies were made in hopes of generating some interest in a record deal, which never came to pass. While they recorded it in 1981, their music is strongly influenced by the progressive rock styles of the early 70s, with prominent keyboards featured, and on all tracks excepting one instrumental, the lyrics are sung in English. Their music swings between the keyboard intense progressive elements, passages featuring guitars in both gentle and hard rock modes, and fluid bass and drum grooves that maintain an interesting current throughout the four cuts, in particular the sidelong epic “Opus: Destroy” that seems to move down a constantly shifting path of ideas. And even though this was intended to be a demo, the recording and remastering brings it up several levels for an outstanding sound, edgy and crisp with no flaws. The band had no luck getting a record deal, which was deeply disappointing for Sinn, yet they soldiered on for a few more years, until a depressed Sinn took his own life, thereby ending the band.

Filed under: New releases, 2020 releases, 1981 recordings

Related artist(s): Tin Pan Alley

More info
http://diregarden.com/god189.html

 

What's new

These are the most recent changes made to artists, releases, and articles.