To many Icon fans, this album represents the final piece of the puzzle. A piece that was thought to have been lost in the shuffle of modern music, never to see the light of day. But this was too good an album to be forgotten. Its intention in 1987 was legitimate: to introduce new vocalist Jerry Harrison to the Icon following, begin a new chapter for the band, and re-establish them for hopes of being signed with a new label (Megaforce/Atlantic, with whom they signed in 1989). After being dropped by Capitol Records, for whom they delivered two albums, "ICON" and "NIGHT OF THE CRIME", they took time off to re-evaluate themselves and begin writing new material.
When the "More Perfect Union" was originally released in the summer of 1987, sales were good enough for six consecutive weeks on Tower Records Phoenix store Top 50 best sellers, and three consecutive weeks on Pro One Stop's Top 5 best sellers as reported by HITS Magazine. But the album was only pressed up on cassette; no vinyl, no compact disc. I should know, I wore out four cassettes. Since only ten out of the original fourteen songs made the album, one would assume the others were throwaways. This was not the case.
As we assembled at Chaton Studios this past summer to go over the songs, Dan couldn't understand how "Way Back To My Heart" didn't make the album origially. It was too good to be left behind. But that has now been corrected, as you can hear for yourself. As far as the overall sound of the album, it was very important that it be up to the same quality as anything today. That's why it was mastered, rejected, completely remastered, then sent back for final touch-ups on a couple of songs. Steve Escallier, who originally produced and engineered the album with Dan, assisted immensely with this project coming together. Steves's numerous cedits, aside from Icon, include Alice Cooper, Tom Petty, Cheap Trick, Jerry Riopelle, Gin Blossoms, Joe Cocker, and was an assistant to Kieth Olsen on albums by the Babys, Geatful Dead, Santana, Fleetwood Mac, and Buckingham/Nicks. He was very involved in the process of giving this album the time, quality, and professionalism it deserves.
So there you have it. Everything that Jerry Harrison recorded with Icon aside from the "Right Between The Eyes" album is right here. Rest assured, the time, energy and devotion put into this album was definately worth it.