Before I begin, let me thank a gentleman named Damien for coming in with the big save. While my memory of the 1980s is pretty good or at least I like to think so, there have been some big albums I have probably missed out. If it hadn't been for Damien, I would have missed out on the live Pat Benatar album and the "Keep It Up" album from Loverboy.
The first two tracks from the album brought all of the memories flooding back to me. I remember "Hot Girls in Love" back in the day and thought it was a really cool song, it still is and I curse my memory for letting it slip. The same with "Strike Zone." This is one of the harder songs on the album and takes me back to their first album. I do like the guitar work on this song, praise be to Paul Dean on it. Probably why it's my favourite track on the album.
Many of the other songs on "Keep It Up" in my mind, attempt to straddle the line between 1970s progressive rock and 1980s synth pop. Take track three for instance. "It's Never Easy" has a really cool progressive style keyboard intro and has me thinking, well done. Then the song goes into that pop sort of feel and this seems to be accented by the vocals. I don't know if Mike Reno is trying to sing a ballad or a rock song here. Still the song is redeemed with another great Dean guitar solo and it ends with the progressive keyboards that match the beginning.
"Queen of the Broken Hearts" is another example. A good song but for me it's a case of Meatloaf's "I'll Do Anything for Love" meets Loverboy's own "Working for the Weekend" from the "Get Lucky" album. It might sound like a strange combination here but somehow it works and works well. I think that's the theme of "Keep It Up." It is more keyboarded and not as hard rock as Loverboy's previous two albums but it's still enjoyable.
Track Listing:
- Hot Girls in Love
- Strike Zone
- It's Never Easy
- Chance of a Lifetime
- Queen of the Broken Hearts
- Prime of Your Life
- Passion Pit
- One Sided Love Affair
- Meltdown
Loverboy[/caption]Mike Reno- vocals
Paul Dean- guitar, vocals
Doug Johnson- keyboards
Scott Smith- bass, vocals
Matt Frenette- drums
Loverboy's third album is not quite as good as the first two but it's still a good album nonetheless. While the attempt to straddle the line isn't completely successful, it's not a failure. If it wasn't for the over saturation of keyboards, this would be a good hard rocking album. Still, at least I got to rekindle the memory of "Hot Girls in Love."
Next post: Bonnie Tyler- Faster Than The Speed of Night
To buy Rock And Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com
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