Great Rock Albums of 1982: Rush- Signals

Rush's 1982 album "Signals" is almost another album in that year that escaped my attention. Fortunately, there was somebody in my platoon who was a huge Rush fan so thanks to him, I got to listen to this album. My first reaction to "Signals" was that it wasn't as hard rock as some of the songs on their previous "Moving Pictures" album but it was an enjoyable album nonetheless.

In the eyes of many, "Signals" marked the beginning of Rush's turn towards more synthesizer oriented music. While I won't dispute that belief, I can say that some of the old Rush is still present in some of the songs. You just have to listen carefully. Alex Leifson's guitar is definitely there underneath the keyboards of Geddy Lee.  Together, they make a definite statement for progressive rock not long before it gave way to more synth pop later in the 80s were quality musicianship wouldn't count for much. What is good is that every song on this album follows along in this formula although I can say that Liefson does hammer out great guitar solos on tracks 2, 3 and 4. That's probably why those songs stand out for me even though it was "Subdivisions" and "New World Man" that got the most radio airplay at the time. Those two songs probably deserved it anyway. If I were to compare this album to anything, it would be the second side of the "Moving Pictures" album and that's definitely a good thing.

Track Listing:

1. Subdivisions

2. The Analogue Kid

3. Chemistry

4. Digital Man

5. The Weapon

6. New World Man

7. Losing It

8. Countdown

[caption id="attachment_860" align="aligncenter" width="242"] Rush[/caption]

Geddy Lee- vocals, bass, keyboards, Moog Taurus pedals

Alex Liefson- guitars, Moog Taurus pedals

Neil Peart- drums, percussion

Whether or not you liked Rush or thought they sold out during what was now commonly called, "their synthesizer period," you can't fault this album. "Signals" in my mind, will always be considered a great progressive rock album.

Next post: Michael Stanley Band- MSB

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Great Rock Albums of 1982: The Greatest Hits of the Outlaws, High Tides Forever

 Whether it was down to the lack of commercial success of the 1982 studio album, "Los Hombres Malo," or simply because they thought it was the appropriate time but in 1982, The Outlaws decided to release a greatest hits album. So, they chose eight of their best songs and put out what was to be a must have for any Outlaws fan or someone who considered themselves a purveyor of Southern Rock. I was the latter.

It might have been only eight songs buy by God, what eight great songs they are! There are the three best known songs, at least to me, "Green Grass and High Tides," "Ghost Riders in the Sky" and "There Goes Another Love Song," which I had always thought was on the "Los Hombres Malo" album because I remember it being played quite a bit on radio in early 1983. As an added bonus, the version of "Ghost Riders" is a live recording that sounds really good. The album also opened my eyes to some of the lesser known Outlaws jams as well. "Hurry Sundown," "Holiday" and "Stick Around for Rock and Roll" are all great songs as can only be done by the Outlaws. All three have those long guitar solos in that Southern Blues based fashion. The only track that doesn't go in this mold is "Take It Anyway You Want It." It actually has a more harder edge but lasting only three minutes and fifteen seconds, is very short for an Outlaws song. It's still a decent song goes well in this compilation of Outlaws' history.

Track Listing:

1. Stick Around for Rock And Roll

2. There Goes Another Love Song

3. Take It Anyway You Want It

4. Green Grass and High Tides

5. Ghost Riders in the Sky

6. Hurry Sundown

7. Holiday

8. You Are the Show

[caption id="attachment_1329" align="aligncenter" width="179"] The Outlaws[/caption]

Rick Cua- bass, lead and backing vocals

David Dix- drums, percussion

Dave Lane- fiddle, violin

Dave Lyons- keyboards, lead and backing vocals

Freddie Salem- guitar, lead and backing vocals

Hughie Thomasson- guitar, banjo, lead and backing vocals

There are so many greatest hits albums around that it's no wonder that the Outlaws would put out one of their own. "High Tides Forever" contains the classics that made their name at the time.

Next post: Rush- Signals

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Great Rock Albums of 1982: Johnny Van Zant Band- Last of the Wild Ones

 Owing to the fact that I spent two thirds of 1982 overseas combined with the expectations of the military, I only managed to attend one concert in 1982. It was at a local club in Jacksonville, North Carolina called the Chateau Madrid. It's not there any more and unlike the Driftwood, I couldn't find any pictures of it on line. Anyway, there are no prizes for guessing who it was I saw that night as I am visiting the album from that tour of the Johnny Van Zant band right now. I remember it being a good night and Johnny and Co were on form and I loved when they played Lynyrd Skynyrd's "I Ain't the One." However, what could have ruined that night was the fact it was in a club full of drunk marines, yes I was one of them but I didn't get involved in any scraps that night. No kidding, while I was enjoying the show, two marines to my right suddenly went to the floor in a heap and started hooking and jabbing. A few minutes after the bouncers broke up that fight and ejected the participants, two more guys on my left engaged in similar festivities. Those weren't the only two bouts on the card that night but I didn't let it spoil my enjoyment of the evening.

"The Last of the Wild Ones" is the third album from the Johnny Van Zant Band and it is definitely a power Southern Rock album. Some of the tracks are almost metal such as the opener and "Can't Live Without Your Love." Both of these are some very heavy songs where Robbie Gay and Erik Lundgren show what they are capable of with a guitar in their hands. The track "Inside Looking Out" sounds like what I think Boston would have sounded like if they had come from south of the Mason-Dixon Line. The power ballad, "Still Hold On" is the one song of such genre that comes closest to the bar set by April Wine the previous year as to what a power ballad should sound like. "It's You" is the one song I remember getting air play at the time and it's not your standard made for radio single. This song rocks and I can't believe how much I had forgotten of the song, shame on me I know. My question is why this album didn't break the band out of the Southeast as had it gotten more notice up North, it would have done well.

Track Listing:

1. Good Girls Gone Bad

2. It's You

3. The Last of the Wild Ones

4. Still Hold On

5. Can't Live Without Your Love

6. Danger Zone

7. Together Forever

8. Inside Looking Out

9. The One and Only

[caption id="attachment_2173" align="aligncenter" width="292"] Johnny Van Zant Band[/caption]

Johnny Van Zant- vocals

Robbie Gay- lead guitar

Erik- Lundgren- lead guitar

Danny Clausman- bass

Robbie Morris- drums

Maybe it was because the corporate record companies had made their millions out of Southern Rock the previous year the reason for why this album seems virtually unknown outside the Southeast of the USA. This is a shame because they alone got to enjoy what a great album "The Last of the Wild Ones" really is and many got to do it without having drunk marines fighting around them.

Next post: Greatest Hits of the Outlaws- High Tides Forever

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Great Rock Albums of 1982: Charlie Daniels Band- Windows

If there was one song whose lyrics really made me think in 1982, it was the single by the Charlie Daniels Band, "Still in Saigon." For those unfamiliar, it's a very haunting song about a Vietnam Veteran and his struggles with the war ten years since coming home. Two lines that still stick in my mind and even more so since I listened to the 1982 "Windows" album are:

"All the sounds of long ago will be forever in my head,

Mingled with the wounded's cries and the silence of the dead."

Those lyrics make me glad that while I served, I never had to fire a live round at a living target nor had any live rounds fired at me. "Still in Saigon" was the first true song that I know of that showed true sympathy to those who served in Vietnam. At the time, some thought it was a bit contradictory to their previous patriotic 1980 hit "In America." There is nothing unpatriotic about "Still in Saigon" and if America apologised to the Vietnam Veterans for they way it treated them every day until the last veteran died, it might just be enough. For me, the song would come to mind in unfortunate circumstances a year later when my old unit got blown up in Beirut.

Like I have said many times before, one song does not make a good album but there are plenty of good ones on "Windows." Charlie Daniels seems to go more rock than country on this album although there is the country ballad type "We Had It All One Time" there's nothing wrong with that song. "Ragin' Cajun" is the other known single from the album which features some fiddle playing reminiscent of the old 1979 classic, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." It's a good rock hoe down. The gem in the dark for me on this album is definitely "Partyin' Gal." I knew a few ladies who partied like that in those days so it should be a tribute to them. It is probably the most rock of all the songs on the album. If "We Had It All One Time" is the country ballad then "Blowin' Along With the Wind" is the rock one. It's not a power ballad, more of a progressive one but it slots in nicely with the rest of the line up. Whether you're country or rock or both, you can't go wrong with "Windows."

Track Listing:

1. Still in Saigon

2. Ain't No Ramblers Anymore

3. The Lady in Red

4. We Had It All One Time

5. Partyin' Gal

6. Ragin' Cajun

7. Makes You Want To Go Home

8. Blowing Along With The Wind

9. Nashville Moon

10. The Universal Hand

[caption id="attachment_1335" align="aligncenter" width="264"] Charlie Daniels Band[/caption]

Charlie Daniels- vocals, guitar, fiddle

Tom Crane- guitar, vocals

Joel "Taz" Di Gregorio- keyboards, vocals

Fred Edwards- drums, percussion

James W Marshall- drums, percussion

Charles Hayward- bass

One song made me think in 1982 but an entire album rocked the year away.
 "Windows" proved to many, especially many up North, that the Charlie Daniels Band were certainly not one hit wonders.
Next post: Johnny Van Zant- The Lat of the Wild Ones

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The Israeli Top Ten- April 1982

Because I hadn't been able to listen to any albums from 1982 over the past few days I decided to take a trip back in personal nostalgia. In a few of my posts, I mentioned that I was in Israel in April of 1982. While getting rather sloshed in a bar in Tel A Viv, my friends and I were entertained by a television showing music videos. At first, we rocked to what I would later discover to be the video to all of Queen's greatest hits up until 1980 and that was totally cool. Next, however, they showed the videos for the top ten songs in Israel that week or so I have always thought. So, to the best of my knowledge, here it is:

10. An Israeli duet featuring a man who looked like a grown up version of a friend of mine from junior high school and a woman. Don't have a clue what the song was, they sang in Hebrew but the lady was quite pretty and the man had a powerful voice.

9. A Soul band whose name or song I can't remember

8. The Human League- Don't You Want Me

7. A rather hot looking French lady- Upside Down (I assume that was the title)

6. A dark haired woman who had a great voice. She was either Israeli or Italian

[caption id="attachment_1726" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The J Geils Band[/caption]

5. J. Geils Band- Centerfold

[caption id="attachment_2277" align="aligncenter" width="199"] Foreigner[/caption]

4. Foreigner- Waiting For a Girl Like You

[caption id="attachment_2485" align="aligncenter" width="259"] Rod Stewart[/caption]

3. Rod Stewart- Young Turks

2. An English band featuring a short guy as lead singer- Can't remember the song

1. Abba- Head Over Heels

I think the reason I remember this top ten so well is that fact that there were a couple of decent rock tunes in the chart. I have also noted that there are a good number of heavy metal bands from the country. My point here is that I think they can rock in Israel! Thank you for coming along on my trip down memory lane.

Next post: Charlie Daniels Band- Windows

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Great Rock Albums of 1982: The Outlaws- Los Hombres Malo

 It often pays to be in the right place at the right time and in the case of the Outlaws "Los Hombres Malo" album, I was fortunate to be in the south when this album was released. Otherwise, it might have passed me by. "Los Hombres Malo" isn't one of the Outlaws' better known albums like "Ghost Riders" or "In the Eye of the Storm" or in fact, some of the classic albums they made in the mid to late 1970s. All that aside, it's still a pretty good album.

The Outlaws have never been as heavy as Southern Rockers such as Blackfoot or Molly Hatchet. Their sound is more bluesier with some great long lead guitar solos like their all time classic jam, "Green Grass and High Tides." It is more of the same with "Los Hombres Malo." "Don't Stop" is a classic Outlaws type song and opens the album quite well and it's followed up by the similar sounding "Foxtail Lilly." "Rebel Girl" is the only song I remember getting any airplay, even on southern stations and it is a decent song except that the guitar solo isn't as long. My assumption: they were asked to shorten the lead for airplay. The rest of the album goes back to the more traditional Outlaws sound and if, while listening to it, you think that every song is in the same vein, the album throws a curve ball with the more slower "Running." It's a ballad done the Outlaws' way. "Easy Does It" and "All Roads" end the album just fine. While this album doesn't make me want to forget some of the more classic albums, it doesn't make me want to discard it for them either.

Track Listing:

1. Don't Stop

2. Foxtail Lilly

3. Rebel Girl

4. Goodbye

5. Back From Eternity

6. Won't Come Out of the Rain

7. Running

8. Easy Does It

9. All Roads

[caption id="attachment_1329" align="aligncenter" width="248"] The Outlaws[/caption]

Rick Cua- bass, lead and backing vocals

David Dix- drums, percussion

Dave Lane- fiddle, violin

Dave Lyons- keyboards, lead and backing vocals

Freddie Salem- guitar, lead and backing vocals

Hughie Thomasson- guitar, banjo, lead and backing vocals

One event I regret missing in 1982 was that the Outlaws and Blackfoot toured together. That must have been an amazing show. They would have played some songs from "Los Hombres Malo" and that would have been cool.

Next post: The Top in in Israel, in April 1982.

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Great Rock Albums of 1982: Rossington//Collins- This Is the Way

One of the best things about being in the Southeastern part of the US in 1982 was that while the rest of the world seemed to be getting into new wave and synth pop was starting to rear its ugly head, Southern rock was still going strong there. Of course heavy metal was growing into a monster out of control but that's another story. As I have said many times before, Southern Rock had stamped its authority in 1981 but while most of the trendy world may have moved on, Southerners were still true to their music. The result being that there are still quite a few more albums in this vein for me to visit and one of the major ones was the second album from Rossington/Collins, "This is the Way."

For me, "This is the Way" is as every bit as good as their debut album "Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere." It has that very pronounced Southern down home boogie vibe that is synonymous with Southern Rock. Plus, having several ex Lynyrd Skynyrd members in the band, you can definitely hear their influence on the album. What is different about Rossington/Collins is the lead singer, Dale Krantz- Rossington. Not enough mention is given to her vocal ability which is very high indeed. She really shines on the acapella "Pine Box." Her vocals are just as noteworthy in the songs that have music with them but they have the additional bonus of some of that great Skynyrdesque guitar play from Gary Rossington and Allen Collins. Great examples to this are "Gotta Get it Straight," "Gonna Miss It When Its Gone" and "Means Nothing to You." "Don't Stop Me Now" has an added bonus of the piano work of Billy Powell proving that he could still tinkle the ivories. It beats me why he doesn't get the respect he deserves as a keyboardist. The best example, though, is the more bluesy ballad "Tashauana." This song puts together all of the things already mentions and makes a really good song. Dale's vocals are superb, their is some great powerful guitar and you can hear Powell's well done efforts as well. "Tashauana" demonstrates why "This is the Way" is such a great album.

Track Listing:

1. Gotta Get it Straight

2. Tashauana

3. Gonna Miss It When Its Gone

4. Pine Box

5. Fancy Ideas

6. Don't Stop Me Now

7. Seems Like Every Day

8. I'm Free Today

9. Next Phone Call

10. Means Nothing to You

[caption id="attachment_2147" align="aligncenter" width="275"] Rossington/Collins[/caption]

Gary Rossington- guitar

Allen Collins- guitar

Dale Krantz- Rossington- vocals

Billy Powell- keyboards

Barry Lee Harwood- guitar, vocals

Leon Wilkeson- bass

Derek Hess- drums

"This is the Way" would be the second and final album from Rossington/Collins. They would disappear after this for reasons I will never fully understand. Maybe it was because I didn't appreciate them enough back then. If that's the case, then that's not good, because if they kept putting out albums like this one, I would have been listening to them for years.

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