2022 Classic Rock / AOR Journal Vol. 2 - Complete

Bruce Koenig. 1980 Kingsnake (LP). Scored this one cheap at a local store. Worth a try I figured. Koenig is from Milwaukee, and his sole work represents the bar scene of the era. Misleading cover indicates a country rock affair, with the cowboy hat, Jim Beam, and ladies of the evening purring up close. The back cover is far more accurate. Some harmless looking guys playing club rock. Not so much boogie, more singer songwriter influenced with funk touches. Koenig plays keyboards and sings. A lot. Not too much room for instrumental prowess. Reminds me a bit of Peter Berkow & Friends from nearby Illinois. I'd submit it's average for the style. (Dec)

ZZ Top - Rio Grande Mud. 1972 London (LP). This album was in RT's stash. I recently wrote about my acceptance of Tres Hombres, their follow-up to the album in hand. And last year I filed the debut into the collection as well. But what of Rio Grande Mud? Man, does this ever go hard for the blues. Much more so than the others. It's as "clean" as the cover indicates. Harmonica is just as much a key instrument as guitar. 'Just Got Paid' is an all-time classic hard rock tune, but mostly this is straight blues. I still enjoyed a +1 listen, but I'm going to let this one sail. (Oct)

Foghat. 1972 Reprise (LP). As mentioned on the Stone Blue post, Foghat were one of my favorite bands as a young teen. They were a very popular band in the mid to late 70s when I first started listening and collecting music. All these years later, I'm finally hearing their debut. Pulled it out of the Denver Record show for a couple of bucks. The most known track here - and by far the best IMO - is the opener 'I Just Want To Make Love To You'. The rest is boogie / pub rock and far from my interest area. I had presumed as much going in, so it met my low expectations. (Oct)

Black Pearl. 1969 Atlantic (LP). Black Pearl play a decidedly psychedelic boogie-soul-blues type of music, similar to other west coast bands during that era. The guitarist is accomplished and his sound is welcome. The songwriting isn't for me though. I like the execution but not the style. It's certainly good, and if you enjoy the genres as noted above, Black Pearl will find a place in your collection. (Oct)

Jim Oliver - Runaway Children. 1986 Runaway (LP). I had high hopes for this one - coming from my current hometown. Featuring a fantasy cover, and Discogs' description of hard rock meets avant-garde, could this be Colorado Springs' version of Richie Duvall or Tom Nehls? Nope. Maybe even Jimmy Hotz? That's closer, but Oliver is more AOR focused than the more proggy leaning Hotz. Despite all the window dressing, and a synthesizer focus, the music is pretty boring mid 80s styled commercial FM rock. More like what Alan Parsons was up to at this point, without the experience. What a bummer. (Oct)

Freeway - Off the Streets. 1979 Big Girl (LP). This one looked intriguing. A small label pressing from Houston that was produced by ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard and featured his wife at the time, Cathie. She's only on a couple of cuts and shares the limelight with two other male vocalists, so it's not really female fronted AOR. It is, however, Album Oriented Rock. Of the worst kind. Pure unadulterated pop slop worshiping at the altar of the FM radio god. Ten relatively harmless tracks with a little bit of heaviness in the guitar, and no memorable songs. It's bad hairstyles and bad tunes. Disappointing. (Oct)

Freeze. 1979 Titanium (LP). Similar to Lucksinger, this is Female Fronted AOR, though it's advertised (and registered on Discogs) as prog. Maybe the last two tracks qualify for the latter designation but even that's a stretch. I like this Chicago based band though, it's a bit more raw and the musicianship is high, especially the guitarist. Unfortunately there are no real highwater marks and there's just not enough here to keep. Fell just below the "Mendoza Line". Pardon the baseball metaphor, 'tis the season. (Oct)

Brave Belt. 1971 Reprise (LP). This isn't for me. Country rock, pretty much what the cover advertises. This is Randy Bachman's first band after leaving The Guess Who. I was hoping for a couple of good cuts similar to his former band, but there were none to be found. Disappointing. Ultimately they evolved into Bachman-Turner Overdrive and were even more boogie rock focused. (Oct)

Lucksinger. 1986 private (EP). I'm always on the lookout for private releases, and this one fit the bill. Pulled this out of a local record shop for a couple of bucks. From Los Angeles, Lucksinger were your classic mid 80s AOR band. What is today known as Female-Fronted AOR which has a niche following. For my tastes it fell a bit flat as they didn't take any chances. Just six 3 to 4 minute tunes, each clearly attempting to get radio airplay. No inventive musicianship or compositions, just pure mid 80s commercialism. For what it is, I'd submit it rates out to be average. (Oct)

2021 Classic Rock / AOR Journal Vol. 5 - Complete

The following all came from the 25 cent bin at Independent (Nov):

Foghat - Tight Shoes. 1980 Bearsville (LP). As noted on the Stone Blue entry, Foghat were one of the first bands I got into as an early teen. Tight Shoes was also part of this batch. Already by Boogie Motel (1979), I was pretty much done with Foghat. I never did hear Tight Shoes, but I didn't expect it was something I was going to keep, and that proved true. But it isn't such a bad album really, and it's very much of its era. To be honest, there isn't that much difference between Foghat and ZZ Top at this stage. Both were blues rock bands looking to update their sound to that of the 80s. ZZ Top just happened to adapt better, especially by 1983. There's some fine guitar, and that would be its saving grace. But those fat beats, with the sterile production only will take you so far. There's not much in the way of memorable songwriting unfortunately.

Illusion - Out of the Mist. 1977 Island (LP). Somewhere along the last two to three years I ended up with the second Illusion, and my conclusion to that record is similar to this, their debut. A fine post-early-Renaissance album with commercial sensibilities. Some progressive rock textures here and there (mellotron, a random meter change), and a very good album on the whole. Though not catchy enough to make it on FM radio and not underground enough to make it a cult classic. As such, not something I need to keep.

Lighthouse - Sunny Days. 1972 Evolution (LP). I recently spoke of Lighthouse's next album Can You Feel It, and what a disappointment the band was by 1973. Its predecessor is no different, and is arguably even worse. Most of this album is a slog to get through, with mainstream boogie rock as its primary driver. Sunny Days redeems itself a little bit on the final two tracks, with some excellent, guitar, horns, and "mellophonium". The latter I thought to be some variation of the mellotron, because the keyboard instrument does indeed reside on a couple of tracks. As it turns out, it's a variation of a mellophone, something akin to a French horn that looks more like a big trumpet. It's primary function is for marching bands. Learn something new every day... 

Pacific Gas & Electric - Get It On. 1969 Bright Orange (LP). This one is pretty easy to describe: Los Angeles based late 60s blues rock. Has some fine guitar solos but mostly it stays in its lane, and doesn't take too many chances. A little too monolithic for me. Comes in a nice gatefold cover. Strange that this album was released on four different labels here in the States.

Barclay James Harvest - Gone to Earth. 1977 MCA (LP). Nice die-cut cover. I have no idea what the allure of BJH is. I've tried many of their albums, and I'm left with nothing to hold onto. It's not prog and it's not even good AOR. Unlike bands such as FM, BJH seems very flat to me. The melodies don't stick.

Foghat - Stone Blue. 1978 England

Foghat were one of the earliest bands I got into as an early teen. And Stone Blue was the new product, following their megahit of Foghat Live. Since it was an early purchase, I must have listened to this 100 times - flipping the record incessantly. Strange then, that I don't think I've heard it in full 40 years. Even more odd is I don't really remember much about it other than maybe the title track and 'Chevrolet'. For the most part it's a strong late 70s hard rock album with the expected excellent lead guitar. What I had forgotten was the album's best track, and quite possibly the best song in all of Foghat's canon: 'Midnight Madness'. Not only does it contain the relentless 'Slow Ride' styled guitar jams, but it actually has a few distinct musical segments. A thinking man's Foghat as it were.

Ownership: LP: 1978 Bearsville. Single sleeve. Part of the 25 cent each haul.

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