Great Rock Albums of 1980: The Outlaws- In the Eye of the Storm

Throughout the 1970s, while Yankees like me were reveling in the Southern delights of Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Allman Brothers, there was another band down in the Deep South playing some fine rock and roll to their fans down there. They were The Outlaws. They had a more of a Southern Boogie rock sound, not as hard as Molly Hatchet or Blackfoot nor were they progressive like Nantucket. The Outlaws, in my view, laid somewhere in between the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd. What they did have, like all the bands I just mentioned, were guitarists who could dazzle you with long guitar solos.

My indoctrination to them was through their 1980 album, "Ghost Riders," an album I will definitely be visiting it when I get to 1980. Therefore, I am visiting the 1979 album "In the Eye of the Storm" kind of regressive and thanks to the wonders of You Tube, I was able to have a listen and see what I've been missing for all these years. "In the Eye of the Storm" for me reminds me of all the good things about The Outlaws. There's the Southern Boogie sound in all of their tracks, I noticed that from track one. They bring a harder edge to it with songs like, "Miracle Man" and "Long Gone" and then there's those cool guitar solos in "Blueswater." This album gave us a good view of all the good things to come with the later Outlaws material and is a great album in its own right.

Track Listing:

1. Lights Are On But Nobody's Home

2. Miracle Man

3. Blueswater

4. Comin' Home

5. I'll Be Leaving Soon

6. Too Long Without Her

7. It's All Right

8. (Com'on) Dance With Me

9. Long Gone

The Outlaws

Harvey Dalton Arnold- bass, vocals

David Dix- drums, percussion

Billy Jones- guitars, vocals

Freddie Salem- guitars, vocals

Hughie Thomasson- guitars, vocals

Monte Yoho- drums

The Outlaws were to finally get noticed north of the Mason-Dixon Line with their next album, but they still thrilled many of their fans south of the line with this one. This album is yet another fine classic rough diamond in the collection of Southern Rock.

Next post: Charlie Daniels Band- Million Mile Reflections

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