Mitch is clearly getting mixed up between REO Speedwagon and Loverboy - who are a Canadian band.
In honor of his post, I’m gonna throw my top 5 Canadian bands (not singers/solo artists) out there (in no particular order):
Rush
The Tragically Hip
The Band
The Guess Who
Bachman-Turner Overdrive
Loverboy doesn’t make the cut. Neil Young may be Canadian but would not consider Crazy Horse to be, so he doesn’t make this list even though he is a legend. Same goes for Joni and Leonard. Not going there with Biebs, Alanis and Bryan (I prefer Ryan) Adams.
Honorable mention goes out to Arcade Fire and Steppenwolf but they don’t crack my top 5. Sorry, No love for Barenaked Ladies.
Come on now. "Follow Your Heart", "Magic Power", "Fight the Good Fight", "Lay it on the Line". Triumph was easily Canada's second best power trio. Certainly better than Bachman, Turner and their Overdrive
I can't say with certainty that I was the "hot older sister" (though I was definitely an older sister), but I did for sure make out to a few of these songs. I still associate this album with Styx, Air Supply (sorry!), Foreigner and Meatloaf, because they all hung together in my "my first albums" record collection. Right along with Blondie and the B52s, Queen and um, the soundtrack to Grease.
No apologies necessary for Air Supply, a much better band than REO. "All Out of Love", "Making Love Out of Nothing at All", "Lost in Love", and "Even the Nights are Better" are all bangers. They're no Bread or Ambrosia, but Air Supply rules!
I've always been a fan of this album. It was one of the first albums I bought with my own hard-earned money. Actually I probably owned the cassette over the vinyl at that time. I saw REO perform last year in Phoenix along with Styx and Loverboy as a side note here. Hi Infidelity is pure 1980s arena Rock, and I say that only in the best way. There really isn't a bad song on this album. It's just depends on which ones you like better than the others. Since seeing REO last year, I've actually listened to this album start to finish several times.
I kinda have to agree with Ken. I don't know how this album was so big except that people in 1981 assumed they were buying an album full of "Keep On Lovin' You" and "Take It On The Run"s. They were wrong. And such is the case with every REO album. They are the epitome of a "hits" band.
Growing up in West Michigan in the late 70s/early 80s you could count on REO, Styx, and Bob Seger all touring through the area at least once a year. In his prime Bob rocked the hardest (give Live Bullet a listen). By the time REO released Hi Fidelity they had traded their rock chops to become a pop band ( and probably more commercially viable).
There's a lot of great (and maybe easy?) picks to be made in 1981, but it would've been wild to see you take on Alabama's "Feels So Right" or Raydio's "A Woman Needs Love."
Also: TIL that REO Speedwagon was from Chicago. Who knew?
"Hard Promises" is one of my favorite albums ever, not just of 1981. However, the rules of this season dictate that we can only choose from among the Top 20 bestsellers of the year we're covering each week. No greatest hits and no live albums allowed. When you throw in the albums that we've already covered in our first season, the number of options decreases dramatically. We did this intentionally to force each of us out of our comfort zones, improve our writing and, not for nothing, expand our audience. By the way, I pitched "Morrison Hotel" awhile back and it did NOT get in. This remains one of the great travesties of our time.
Mitch is clearly getting mixed up between REO Speedwagon and Loverboy - who are a Canadian band.
In honor of his post, I’m gonna throw my top 5 Canadian bands (not singers/solo artists) out there (in no particular order):
Rush
The Tragically Hip
The Band
The Guess Who
Bachman-Turner Overdrive
Loverboy doesn’t make the cut. Neil Young may be Canadian but would not consider Crazy Horse to be, so he doesn’t make this list even though he is a legend. Same goes for Joni and Leonard. Not going there with Biebs, Alanis and Bryan (I prefer Ryan) Adams.
Honorable mention goes out to Arcade Fire and Steppenwolf but they don’t crack my top 5. Sorry, No love for Barenaked Ladies.
No Triumph?
Sorry CJ - you can’t even get that one past me
Come on now. "Follow Your Heart", "Magic Power", "Fight the Good Fight", "Lay it on the Line". Triumph was easily Canada's second best power trio. Certainly better than Bachman, Turner and their Overdrive
When you lose a fellow member of the hard rockin’ class of 87 you’re truly out of luck.
I betcha the average person could come up with five Triumph songs before they could think of five BTO songs
Slim pickings north of the border. There's The Band and The Guess Who and Arcade Fire. Not sure I can even get to 5.
Rush hater
And how can you not love The Hip. Still amazed they never found success south of the border - so many amazing songs!
No love for The New Pornographers?
I can't say with certainty that I was the "hot older sister" (though I was definitely an older sister), but I did for sure make out to a few of these songs. I still associate this album with Styx, Air Supply (sorry!), Foreigner and Meatloaf, because they all hung together in my "my first albums" record collection. Right along with Blondie and the B52s, Queen and um, the soundtrack to Grease.
No apologies necessary for Air Supply, a much better band than REO. "All Out of Love", "Making Love Out of Nothing at All", "Lost in Love", and "Even the Nights are Better" are all bangers. They're no Bread or Ambrosia, but Air Supply rules!
Was there a better way to end a high school event than with a slow dance to "The Best of Times"? I think not.
I do believe it’s true!
I've always been a fan of this album. It was one of the first albums I bought with my own hard-earned money. Actually I probably owned the cassette over the vinyl at that time. I saw REO perform last year in Phoenix along with Styx and Loverboy as a side note here. Hi Infidelity is pure 1980s arena Rock, and I say that only in the best way. There really isn't a bad song on this album. It's just depends on which ones you like better than the others. Since seeing REO last year, I've actually listened to this album start to finish several times.
I kinda have to agree with Ken. I don't know how this album was so big except that people in 1981 assumed they were buying an album full of "Keep On Lovin' You" and "Take It On The Run"s. They were wrong. And such is the case with every REO album. They are the epitome of a "hits" band.
Growing up in West Michigan in the late 70s/early 80s you could count on REO, Styx, and Bob Seger all touring through the area at least once a year. In his prime Bob rocked the hardest (give Live Bullet a listen). By the time REO released Hi Fidelity they had traded their rock chops to become a pop band ( and probably more commercially viable).
I always liked "Riding the Storm Out". That song still sounds good today
Absolutely!
There's a lot of great (and maybe easy?) picks to be made in 1981, but it would've been wild to see you take on Alabama's "Feels So Right" or Raydio's "A Woman Needs Love."
Also: TIL that REO Speedwagon was from Chicago. Who knew?
"Hard Promises" is one of my favorite albums ever, not just of 1981. However, the rules of this season dictate that we can only choose from among the Top 20 bestsellers of the year we're covering each week. No greatest hits and no live albums allowed. When you throw in the albums that we've already covered in our first season, the number of options decreases dramatically. We did this intentionally to force each of us out of our comfort zones, improve our writing and, not for nothing, expand our audience. By the way, I pitched "Morrison Hotel" awhile back and it did NOT get in. This remains one of the great travesties of our time.