Hailing from Niagara Falls (the Canadian side), this was the band’s 2nd album released in ’85. After the success of the first album, which spawned four singles, Warner Bothers decided to throw the kitchen sink at this release to hope lightening struck twice. They got mega producer Bruce Fairbairn to produce, and Bob Rock was the engineer. Well it worked, as four singles were also released from this one.
Bad Attitude was one of those singles and opens up the album with its polished rock sound tailor made for the North American market. Second track, Feel It Again, was an even bigger hit with its huge chorus, melody, and huge production – it couldn’t fail – they had that pop/rock sound nailed down. Lost And Found has that big eighties keyboard driven sound, again with the big chorus, and everything sounds super polished. Of course the ballad rears its ugly head with What Does It Take. When the band writes such good pop/rock songs it amazes me that they are put under pressure to write them. And again, what do I know, as this was a hit also. Side 1 closes out with One By One, again with the big keyboard intro, and the guitars are a bit louder to give it that extra bounce.
Side 2 kicks off with Wounded. It’s an ok track with a bit of a cheesy lyric but the big production carries it through. Words In The Wind is up next, again with the super processed keyboards, it’s nearly a mirror image of the previous track – at least this track has a decent solo. The final single from the record is All Along You Knew and its claim to fame is that it had flute played by none other than Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull. How that came about I would love to know. Once The Feeling follows and we’re back to the slick big rock sound which Fairbairn is known for. Album closer, Take My Hand, is super disappointing as it’s a ballad. Who closes an album with a ballad? Anyway, this is what an album sounds like after it’s had a million bucks thrown at it (slight exaggeration).
8/10 from The Grooveman.
