Great Rock Albums of 1985: Foreigner- Agent Provocateur

 

While in 1985, most of the world was excited about Foreigner releasing their first studio in nearly four years, I was a little skeptical. My skepticism was based on the logic that my final memories from Foreigner “4” was their famous ballad, “Waiting for a Girl Like You” and when my introduction to the new “Agent Provocateur” album was another ballad, I concluded that Foreigner had gone the way of REO Speedwagon and was simply content to achieve commercial success through ballads. No matter how good everyone thought “I Want to Know What Love Is” and it is a good song, I had prematurely drawn the conclusion that the new album would be mainly ballads and that Foreigner had foregone their hard rock roots which had brought them so much success in the past.

Fortunately, my sister did buy the album and gave me a listen to it and my skepticism was removed. Let me be frank, in my mind, “Agent Provocateur” comes nowhere close to classics like my personal favourite, “Double Vision,” but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad album. True, there are more ballads on here than I would have liked, the previously mentioned single and “That Was Yesterday,” another song which brought Foreigner top 40 success. Plus, “Growing Up the Hard Way,” while not a ballad is over done with the synthesizer and I can’t help thinking how much better that song would have been if there was a stronger power chord from a guitar on it. However, there is evidence a plenty on “Agent Provocateur” to show that the band hadn’t totally forgotten where they came from.

Opening track, “Tooth and Nail” dispels any ideas that “Agent Provocateur” is going to be an album of ballads. It does its job of hooking the listener and is a good steady rock track. Even though the next three tracks after are the ballads and synth pop singles, one doesn’t lose interest as that opening tracks gives hope that there is more like that on the album. “Reaction to Action” does exactly that and it has the best guitar solo on the album. Therefore, it’s awarded the hidden gem for the album. I have a theory about the track “Stranger in My Own House.” I theorize that Lou Gramm and Mick Jones worried that people like me would think this album would be chuck full of ballads, so they recorded this song with that in mind. “Stranger in My Own House” is a good hard rocking track, probably the hardest on the album with another cool guitar solo. But I think they try too hard to be hard rock with Gramm doing more screaming than singing. While it’s a cool track, I want to say to Lou, “Relax man, you don’t have to prove you can still rock.”

“A Love in Vain” may return to the ballads but there is some good keyboards work on the track and a little guitar making a good 70s style progressive rock sounding song. Maybe that one should have been released as a single as it’s better than it successor, “Down on Love” which was. This one, while not bad, has too much of an 80s synth pop sound for me. “Two Different Worlds” is a definite ballad and it sort of combines the previous two tracks without the synth pop which is replaced with a decent guitar solo. That leaves the closer, “She’s Too Tough,” and though it brings the album full circle, the song reminds me too much of the Kenny Loggins single, “Danger Zone.”

Track Listing:

1. Tooth and Nail
2. That Was Yesterday
3. I Want to Know What Love Is
4. Growing Up the Hard Way
5. Reaction to Action
6. Stranger in My Own House
7. A Love in Vain
8. Down on Love
9. Two Different Worlds
10. She’s Too Tough

Foreigner

Lou Gramm- lead vocals, percussion

Mick Jones- guitar, synthesizer, keyboards, backing vocals

Rick Wills- bass, backing vocals

Dennis Elliot- drums

Like with Heart, the question here is, “Was Agent Provocateur” a sell out album for Foreigner?” Okay, they did have a number one single on it and while I might not think so, many other people out there did and it’s probably why it didn’t sell as big as some of their previous. My belief on the lack of sales was that Foreigner were trying to be all thing to all people and in a 1980s society which like to put things into nice neat categories, that didn’t sit well.

Next post: Marillion- Misplaced Childhood

To download Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com 

Great Metal Albums of 1981: April Wine, The Nature of the Beast

It was about this time of my life that I began to wonder if Canadian music was largely ignored by US and UK markets, especially metal bands from the Great White North. Rush and Triumph being the two exceptions of course.  Two of my very earliest posts asked this question and certainly feel free to go back through the archives and read those posts. I ask myself the same question because while searching through my local record store, I discovered "The Nature of the Beast" by Canadian band April Wine. There will be some debate as to whether or not to label April Wine a metal band and I will attempt to put forward the case for yes as I examine their most commercially successful album.

If one were to listen to the first four songs only, they would be more inclined to put April Wine into the hard rock or power pop category. The opening song "All Over Town" starts hard enough with the opening riffs. However, I get the sneaking suspicion that it could have been played even harder. It's still a good song though and the second song, "Telling Me Lies" sort of goes on in the same vein. It's another song that borders on power pop. Then comes "Sign of the Gypsy Queen." This is the first song that really shows off some impressive guitar work. I have "The Nature of the Beast" on cassette, which is gathering dust in my attic so I heard the version on YouTube. It was a live version and it is totally mind blowing. The guitar solos go on for much longer and my thought to this was "Why couldn't have recorded it like that on the album?" It would have made a great song even greater. Following "Sign of the Gypsy Queen" is my second favourite power ballad of all time, "Just Between You and Me." Yes, it's a soppy love song lyrically, but the guitar breaks between the verses and the solo itself totally launch it to a new level. I will go out on the limb here and say that "Just Between You and Me" set the bar for how metal ballads should sound. It totally kicks the ass of "Every Rose Has Its Thorn."

After the ballad, the album goes heavier kicking in straight away with "Wanna Rock." I agree with the lyrics "Disco music has a social disease, if it ain't gonna rock me then it ain't gonna please." "Wanna Rock" sets the stage for the hard rocking rest of the album and is the exhibit A, B and C for my case of April Wine being a metal band. It follows on with the anti-nuclear weapons song "Caught in the Crossfire" that starts with a very cool lead guitar intro. On the cassette it would start the second side but "Future Tense" starts with an almost thrash sound before slowing down a little while still maintaining metal integrity. It continues with the third best known song on the album and definitely more metal sounding than either "Sign of the Gypsy Queen" and "Just Between You and Me." Big City Girls" is a true cooker of a song even if it is about prostitutes. "Crash and Burn" doesn't do what it suggests in the title but continues the party. "Bad Boys" may not be as hard as the ones mentioned but it carries things on nicely to its excellent closer "One More Time" which ends the album very nicely. So, I hope I have convinced some of you that April Wine should be a metal band but don't take my word for it, listen for yourself.

Track Listing:

1. All Over Town

2. Telling Me Lies

3. Sign of the Gypsy Queen

4. Just Between You and Me

5. Wanna Rock

6. Caught in the Crossfire

7. Future Tense

8. Big City Girls

9. Crash and Burn

10. Bad Boys

11. One More Time

[caption id="attachment_2349" align="aligncenter" width="285"] April Wine[/caption]

Myles Goodwyn- vocals, guitars, keyboards

Brian Greenway- vocals, guitars

Gary Moffet- guitars, backing vocals

Steve Lang- bass, backing vocals

Jerry Mercer- drums

I have a confession to make, when I bought "The Nature of the Beast" I never knew that they had put out so many albums before hand. It was always in my mind to listen to these albums but I never got around to it, that's going to change. I would love to hear how they stack up to this monster of a classic.

Next post: Judas Priest- Point of Entry

To buy Rock and Roll Children, go to: www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html
Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London

Great Rock Albums of 1981: Foreigner- 4

Foreigner's fourth album has sparked a lot of debate among hard rockers. It has been said that this was where they shifted from their harder rock sound to a more commercial soft sound. The catalyst for this debate was the fact that in 1981, Foreigner's ballad from "4" made it into the top ten. I remember my African American comrades in arms listening to this song along with their European American counterparts. "Waiting For a Girl Like You" was their biggest hit to date, even going to number one in several countries. In fact, that evening in April 1982, when I was in Israel, the song was the next one above "Centerfold" and if my mind is right on this, "Waiting For a Girl Like You" would have been number 4 in the Israeli pop charts.

So, it is fair to say that Foreigner sold out with this album? I have to say a sincere "NO!" on this one. The very first track, "Night Life" is a right hard rock awakener the way a good opening album track should be. Then there's my favourite track on the album, "Juke Box Hero." I love the fact that when Lou Gramm sings "that one guitar," a guitar power chord kicks in immediately after, nice. The other top forty track on the album "Urgent" is not an abandonment from their hard rock roots. The very first time I heard it, I admit I was a little put off by the sax solo until I remember that my favourite song off the "Double Vision" album has one. What truly confirms to me that this album is a true rocker is the last four songs on the album. All of them good rock tunes and I particularly love the intro on "Woman in Black." So no, the one ballad on this album doesn't detract from the hard rock sound that made Foreigner an icon in the late 70s.

Track Listing:

1. Night Life

2. Juke Box Hero

3. Break It Up

4. Waiting For a Girl Like You

5. Luanne

6. Urgent

7. I'm Gonna Win

8. Woman In Black

9. Girl On the Moon

10. Don't Let Go

[caption id="attachment_2277" align="aligncenter" width="140"] Foreigner[/caption]

Lou Gramm- lead vocals, percussion

Mick Jones- lead, guitar, keyboards, backing vocals

Rick Wills- bass, backing vocals

Dennis Elliot- drums, backing vocals

Additional Musicians

Mark Rivera- saxophone on "Urgent" (except solo)

Junior Walker- sax solo

I think that the problem Foreigner had with getting a ballad to number one in the pop charts manifested itself after this album. Like so many bands who achieved the same in the early 80s, they thought they had to keep making chart ballads from then on. I'll go more into that in due course but right now, let's enjoy a fine album from Foreigner. "4" is arguably their best album and it's easy to see why.

Next post: Loverboy

To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublishginggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London

Great Rock Albums of 1980: Styx- Cornerstone

Like I did with 1978 and 79, I am starting off 1980 with albums that were released in the previous year but didn't come to my attention until the year I'm posting about. "Head Games" by Foreigner was one and so was "Cornerstone" by Styx. The album first came to my attention in the February courtesy of what is probably their best known single, "Babe." During that month, it seemed every time I would return to base via the back gate, that song was blasting out of the juke box in the bar across the street. I know for a fact that the bar in question was called The Zodiac because the bar next door to it, Dale's, had mostly country music on their box, although they did serve a delicious bowl of chilli. As a result, I got to hear the song quite a bit and while on the subject, I promise that I won't link every album between 1980 and 83 with my military experiences.

No band, with the possible exception of Kansas, was able to equal Styx in the art of fusing progressive rock and hard rock. Their previous two albums, "The Grand Illusion" and "Pieces of Eight" plus much of their earlier records bare witness to this. "Cornerstone" is more a lurch to the progressive side of their sound. Most of the album seems to follow the flow of the march behind "Babe" and their other single "Why Me" with the progressive sound. The one track that tends to be more harder rock is "Borrowed Time." This is not to say that it's not a good album, in no way is it bad and the guitar solo by Tommy Shaw on "First Time" reminded me of that great times of the previous albums.

Track Listing:

1. Lights

2. Why Me

3. Babe

4. Never Say Never

5. Boat on a River

6. Borrowed Time

7. First Time

8. Eddie

9. Love in the Midnight

Styx

Dennis DeYoung- keyboards, vocals, accordion

Chuck Panozzo- bass, vocals

John Panozzo- drums, percussion, vocals

Tommy Shaw- guitars, vocals, mandolin

James Young- guitars, vocals

When the album came out, many hard rockers were disappointed by "Cornerstone" for it's more progressive sound. Some  rock historians say that this album began their slide into commericaldom. I don't think so and I'll argue the case in 1981. For me, it's still a good album with a well known song that brings back memories. I wonder if The Zodiac is still there.

Next post: Pink Floyd- The Wall

To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublshinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Froogle and Barnes & Noble and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London

Great Rock Albums of 1979: Led Zeppelin- In Through the Out Door

If a metalhead who had been one since the 1980s or later was to listen to "In Through the Outdoor" by Led Zeppelin, they would have serious doubts about the band being one of the founding fathers of heavy metal. This album is a far cry from their earlier and much heavier material. There are no songs with that heavy rocking sound such as "Whole Lotta Love," "Communication Breakdown," "Rock and Roll" and my personal favourite, "Black Dog." Two reasons are cited for this: i) After the death of Robert Plant's son in 1977, he no longer was in the mood to sing, "It's been a long time since I rocked and rolled." I can't in any way blame him for that. ii) Led Zeppelin stated that they were looking to achieve some sort of musical integrity. 

Saying all of that, this is still a great album containing the high quality work one would have expected from Led Zeppelin. There is a little bit of humour to the album in my mind with songs like "Fool in the Rain" and "Hot Dog." The other tracks carry a more defined sound and the ten minute plus long "Carouselambra" is a classic trademark of the talented people that Led Zeppelin were. One minor note, if I was in any way producing the album, I would have put the excellent track, "All of My Love" at the very end. This would have been a great way to end the album and when I listen to it in its full, after hearing the aforementioned track, I don't really want to listen to the concluding track, "I'm Gonna Crawl" and that's not fair to it. 

Track Listing:

1. In the Evening

2. South Bend Suarez

3. Fool in the Rain

4. Hot Dog

5. Carouselambra

6. All of My Love

7. I'm Gonna Crawl

Led Zeppelin

Robert Plant- vocals

Jimmy Page- guitars

John Paul Jones- bass, keyboards

John Bonham- drums

This would be the last studio album made before the tragic death of drummer John Bonham in 1980 and for most people would spell the end of the band. Like so many, I associate "In Through the Outdoor" as their last hurrah but it is still a great one to finish off with and to me, they definitely achieve their musical integrity. 

Next post: Soundtrack- The Rose

To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to www.80smetalman.wordpress.com/title?RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London 

Great Rock Albums of 1979: Little River Band- First Under the Wire

This has always been my impression of the Little River Band and this album. It was the album you play on your car cassette deck, (remember they didn't have CD's back in 1979) on you way home from a good night out. You have a lady in the car with you, could be your girlfriend or maybe you got lucky with that girl at the end of the bar, no matter. Anyway, you put this album on because it's a good mood enhancer. The soft rock tones won't scare the lady off but it has enough of a hard edge to let you know that you're not selling out and going to buy an Air Supply album next time you're at the stores.

One of the ironic things about "First Under the Wire" is that one of the hardest tracks on the album, "Lonesome Loser" is probably one of their most successful singles. I won't go as far as to say that it's a headbanger, but there are some pretty impressive guitar licks in the song. This is the other thing about the Little River Band, although they are classed as soft rock, there are some impressive guitar solos in a good number of songs. This is true with the other hard(ish) song, "Hard Life." The rest of the album has that late night mellow out feel with a little bit of a jazzy rock vibe. The other single, "Cool Change" is an example and is a good song if you ever find yourself out to sea in a small boat.

Track Listing:

1. Lonesome Loser

2. The Rumour

3. By My Side

4. Cool Change

5. It's Not a Wonder

6. Hard Life (prelude)

7. Hard Life

8. Middle Man

9. Man on the Run

10. Mistress of Mine

Little River Band

Glenn Shorrock- vocals

David Briggs- lead guitar

Greaham Goble- guitar

Beeb Birtles- guitar

Barry Sullivan- bass

Derek Pellici- drums

Mal Logan- keyboards

So if you want something to either mellow out to or to get your partner in the mood, then album might just do the trick. It is a soft rock album but there are moments of hardness to it. An enjoyable album.

Next post: Led Zepplin- In Through the Out Door

To buy Rock and Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London

Great Rock Albums of 1979: Journey- Infinity

It has been said and I won't debate it, that the hit single from this album, "Lovin' , Touchin', Squeezin'" is one of the soppiest love songs of all time. Maybe so, but trust me on this, back in late 1979 and early 80, if you wanted to get a girl out on the dance floor on a couples skate, then this was the song that would do it. Yes, this song was big with a lot of females at the time, my then disco loving little sister included. (She saw the error of her ways about a year later.) Saying that, it wasn't a bad song and I did like it. The correction I would have made to it was when the song was fading out at the end with the "Na na na na na's," I would have increased the volume of the lead guitar that was playing in the background.

As I always said, one song does not an album make. There are a lot of good tracks on here as I remembered when I refamiliarised myself with it the other night. It took me back to the memories of my old friend from New Jersey who played the track "City of the Angels" half to death. That is also a very good song and shows that the "Evolution" album is not a one track wonder. The songs after "City of the Angels" are some good blues based hard rock tunes with some good all around musicianship, especially the guitar talents of Schon,  to go with the unique vocals of Steve Perry.

Track Listing:

1. Majestic

2. Too Late

3. Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'

4. City of the Angels

5. When You're Alone (It ain't easy)

6. Sweet and Simple

7. Lovin' You is Easy

8. Just the Same Way

9. Do You Recall

10. Daydream

11. Lady Luck

Journey

Steve Perry- lead vocals

Neil Schon- guitars, vocals

Greg Rollie- keyboards, vocals

Steve Smith- drums, vocals

Ross Valory- bass, vocals

Some would say that this was the last good rock album before Journey would make the descent into sounding commercial. I'm not sure about that one but it will be interesting to see as we continue the journey through time. In the mean time, enjoy this great classic album from a class rock band.

Next post: Little River Band- First Under the Wire

To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London

Great Rock Albums of 1979: The Eagles- The Long Run



"The Long Run" was the long awaited follow up to The Eagles' great 1976 album "Hotel California." That previous album began to take them away from their easy listening sound to more of a harder rock sound and "The Long Run" continued along in that direction. My first taste of this classic album was when I was on leave after just finishing boot camp and the song "Heartache Tonight" came on my AM car radio. I was very impressed by the harder sound of the guitars and even more impressed by the guitar solos in it. Side tracking for a moment, I will say that Joe Walsh and Don Felder never receieved the respect due them as guitarists, even after their solo tradeoff in the song "Hotel California." Anyway, tracks like the last one mentioned as well as "In The City" which Joe Walsh brought over from "The Warriors" soundtrack, "Disco Strangler" and "Teenage Jail" are just some of the harder rock songs that help make this album so great.
Saying that, "The Long Run" doesn't totally take them from their roots of the easy listening countrified sound. There are a couple of tracks that remind us where they came from. Such songs as "The Sad Cafe" and "I Can't Tell You Why" bear testimony to that fact and to me, the title track of the album serves as the bridge between the soft and the hard. Add all of these things together and you get a fantastic album that has continued to remain so over three decades.

Track Listing:

1. The Long Run

2. I Cant Tell You Why

3. In the City

4. The Disco Strangler

5. King of Hollywood

6. Heartache Tonight

7. Those Shoes

8. Teenage Jail

9. The Greeks Don't Want No Freaks

10. The Sad Cafe

The Eagles

Glen Frey- electric guitar, keyboards, synthesiser, vocals

Don Henley- drums, percussion, vocals

Don Felder- electric, accoustic and slide guitars, organ, vocals

Joe Walsh- electric and slide guitars, keyboards, vocals

Timothy B Schmit- bass, vocals ]

"The Long Run" was the first album not to feature founding member Randy Meisner on bass who was replaced by Timothy B. Schmit. I have also noticed that when I posted the tracks, I don't remember them being in that order in my cassette. I guess it's a trip back up the loft to see for myself or maybe I should just get a CD. Still, this is a brilliant album and the first new album I listened to as a marine.

This would be the last Eagles studio album before their break up in 1980. I have always put that down to so many talented musicians each wanting to go a separate way. The evidence is the solo albums each one of them recorded afterwards that I will be visiting down the line.

Next post: The Knack- Get The Knack

To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London

Great Rock Albums of 1979: Toto

Although I was a big fan of Wayne's World, there was one thing in their book "Extreme Close Up" I didn't agree with. That was some of the songs they listed in the category of "Top Ten Party Killing Tunes." There were at least two other songs that I felt shouldn't have been on the list, "Hotel California" by the Eagles and "Freebird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. However, down at number two was "Anything by Toto." I don't agree that every song by Toto is a party killer. Maybe in the case of "Georgy Porgy" but not their most noted song, "Hold the Line." That was the song that made me aware of them and I still enjoy listening to it when I play any of the compilation CDs it appears on. Saying that, I do agree with Wayne's number one choice, "Any disco tune."
Sticklers for music history will point out that this album was released in 1978, but it didn't come to my attention until March of 1979. How it did is an amusing story. An Air Force recruitment band came to my high school and played a gig. They introduced "Hold the Line" by saying that Toto had left Dorothy and the rest of the Wizard of Oz group and formed his own band. No, I didn't find that funny either, but they did make the song sound good. Therefore, I was totally impressed when I heard the actual version by Toto.
If someone bought this album today after hearing "Hold the Line," they may be disappointed in the fact that Toto aren't a true hard rock band. They are more of a prog rock band with elements of hard and soft rock. I will go out on a ledge here and say they sound like 10cc with a bit of Kansas thrown in. While the album definitely isn't party killing, it's not a party enhancer either. This album is what I call a good wind down album. It's great for playing when travelling home from a metal concert and you want something to bring you down. It's also good for chilling in your big chair.
One thing I can say from this and other offerings by Toto is that they're all talented musicians. The opening track, "Child's Anthem" is a brilliant instrumental  intro to the album and while some of the song "I'll Supply the Love" has that generic commercial 70s sound in some places, there is some good guitar licks and a keyboard solo to bring it up. A critic, which I'm not, might say that the musicianship makes up for any other flaws in the music.

Track Listing:

1. Child's Anthem

2. I'll Supply the Love

3. Georgy Porgy

4. Manuela Run

5. You Are the Flower

6. Girl Goodbye

7. Takin' It Back

8. Rockmaker

9. Hold the Line

10. Angela

Toto

Bobby Kimball- lead and backing vocals

Steve Lukather- guitars, lead and backing vocals

David Paich- keyboards, lead and backing vocals

Steve Porcaro- keyboards, lead vocals

David Hungate- bass

Jeff Porcaro- drums

Toto are a good prog rock outfit, maybe not as good as Kansas in my opinion, but still good as their first album shows. And don't pay attention to Wayne's "Top Ten Party Killing Tunes" list.

Next post: Queen- Jazz

To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London