April 5th, 2025 - Signs of Life and Tropical Esses

 

Hey there rockers, rollers, and craft brew lovers!  Happy Saturday!  The Meista here rocking out to Billy Squire's "Signs Of Life" and a tart and tasty Tropical Esses from Prairie Artisan Ales!  This pairing goes out to me dear friend Amy... cheers sista!

Album Info:

• Artist: Billy Squire
• Title: "Signs Of Life"
• Recorded: April through June 1984
• Release date: July 1984 (4th full-length album by Billy Squire)
• Record company: Capitol Records
• Production: Billy Squire and Jim Steinman
• Album cover art: Bill Smith (cover art design and illustration) and John Van Hamersveld (rear cover collage and inner sleeve design)
• Personnel: Bill Squire (lead vocals, guitars, keyboards, and synthesizers) with Bobby Chouinard (drums), Jeff Golub (guitars and slide guitar), Doug Lubahn (bass and backing vocals), and Alan St. Jon (keyboards and synthesizers)
• Additional and guest musicians: Alfa Anderson (additional vocals on "(Another) 1984"), Rory Dodd (additional vocals on "Fall for Love" and "Reach for the Sky"), Jimmy Maelen (percussion), Brian May (guitar solo on "(Another) 1984"), and Eric Troyer (additional vocals on "Fall for Love" and "Reach for the Sky")
• Musical style: Hard rock, pop rock, progressive rock
• Sound: With tight musicianship, strong songwriting, high energy, and lot of pop sensibility, "Signs Of Life" is a testament to Squire's talent as a musician.  Though not has rockin' as his earlier album, he still presents powerful musical statement.  And May's stellar solo on "(Another) 1984" is an added bonus!
• Major themes: Love, lust, desire, rock and roll, , etc.
• Tracks: 
  

1. "All Night Long"
2. "Rock Me Tonite"
3. "Eye On You"
4. "Take A Look Behind Ya"
5. "Reach For The Sky"
6. "(Another) 1984"
   
7. "Fall For Love"
8. "Can't Get Next To You"
9. "Hand-Me-Downs"
10. "Sweet Release"

 Brew Info:

• Brewery: Prairie Artisan Ales (Oklahoma)
• Website: https://prairieales.com/
• Brew: Tropical Esses
• Style: Fruited Sour Ale
• Serving: 12 ounce can
• ABV: 4.5%
• Ingredients: Sour ale brewed with tropical rainbow chewy candy and pink guava
• Pour: The Tropical Esses pours a very cloudy greenish yellow hue with a frothy, 1+ finger, bright white head that slowly dissipates to a thin ring with sudsy lacing.
• Nose: The nose is fruity, sweet, and rather tart.  There are aromas of freshly sliced guava, lemon juice and zest, gummy candy, and a hint of honey.
• Taste: The taste of the Tropical Esses follows the nose with juicy, fruity, tart, and sweet flavors.  There are notes of Topical Skittles, lemon juice, cranberry juice, guava, passionfruit, a splash of honey, and very subtle graininess.
• Mouthfeel: Light to medium in body and well-carbonated, the mouthfeel is very tart and crisp, juicy and refreshing, yet smooth with a sweet, juicy and lip-puckering tart finish.

Overall pairing: The fun, fast-paced, hard rock sound of "Signs Of Life" deserves a bright and crushable brew... thus the delightfully tart and sweet Tropical Esses from the fine folks at Prairie Artisan Ales!  Those sweeter notes work great with Squire's unique vocals, the soaring guitars, and the lyrical content while the fruity tartness goes great with the rock and roll punch!  I also thought the album cover art and the can label looked quite nice together.  'Nuff said!

Cheers!!