Hey, Folk’s thanks for checking back in. Here is another 9 pack of albums that I had purchased back in 1984. Are you ready for Part 2?
Let’s Do This!
One of the first albums that actually came out pretty early was the self-titled debut Bon Jovi album. I had seen the adds for the debut in Circus Magazine but it was a fellow student at my High School that said I should check Bon Jovi out. I did and bought it upon his recommendation. It was a decent debut. Nothing to earth-shattering mind you as that would come 2 years later when Slippery When Wet went bonkers worldwide but a decent debut none the less. Roulette and a few others are decent enough tracks.
Canadian Rock was alive and well in my world and thanks to the Canuck Mag Music Express. I read about artists like Lee Aaron who swung a sword and sang a song called Metal Queen. Metal Queen was a decent enough album the only real track being real heavy was the title track, The rest of the album was more of a Pat Benetar type rock n roll. GIve Lee props though as there weren’t many real good female hard rock singers out there but Lee had the voice and well she swung a mean sword!
GIMME A R…..WHATCHA GOT! Helix (from Ladano’s backyard Kitchener, Ontario) basically got the ball rolling and by that selling records with Walkin The Razors Edge. Rock You was the biggie song that pushed this album to Platinum in Canada and also made a serious dent in the U.S charts as well. Touring with Quiet Riot and Whitesnake helped the cause. Helix also was a great live act.
Speaking of Quiet Riot here comes Condition Critical and that title pretty much sums up QR 1984. Dubrow was in a war of words with Vince Neil and even Roth nightly on VH’s 1984 Tour was chirping Dubrow about drinking Ice Tea from a Jack Daniel’s bottle. The press built it up and QR never recovered. Condition Critical at best was maybe half good? Sign of the Times was a great opener but releasing yet another Slade song as a single (Mama Were All Crazee Now ) was a dumb ass move. I was 17 at the time and even I knew that!
PARTY ALL NIGHT LOOOOOOOOONG!
Lee/Lifeson/Peart released the very underrated Grace Under Pressure which is a great album. When talking about RUSH and their studio output you know you are not going to get any two Rush albums sounding alike. Distant Early Warning/AfterImage/ Between The Wheels/Kid Gloves are stellar tracks actually the whole damn thing is stellar. It’s RUSH!
Levine/Emmett/Moore cranked out the brilliant Thunder 7 album. Triumph put out some real quality material and this album shows that in spades. Spellbound and Follow Your Heart are classics but its those other tracks like the Zep tinged Rock Out Roll-On. The prog like Time Goes By are classics as well. Plus Rik Emmett is a beast on the guitar.
In 1984 Sammy Hagar couldn’t drive 55 but he knew the curve of delivering a stellar solo live show that I caught in October of that year with Krokus opening. V.O.A was my first ever Sam purchase and was a decent hard rock album. Hagar had a stellar support cast and it shows on the album. Hell, how could you go wrong with tunes like Dick In The Dirt? Exactly! Course we all know what happened a short time after 1984 rolled into 1985 right?
Iron Maiden released the epic POWERSLAVE in September 1984 and Powerslave ran my life for that month as my homework went on the back burner. I still recall being giddy with excitement when I saw the front and back cover artwork along with something like 51 minutes of music stuffed with Maiden tunes all in one package. Holy Shit! As fans, we hit the Jackpot Folks. Maiden was and still are in 2020 The Best!
Rollin-Rollin-Turnin-Turnin- Do it again!
One album that came onto my radar as a new band(but had been around ) and what would become over the years a game-changer in my world was Hanoi Rocks Two Steps From The Move. Hanoi hailing from Finland went to Toronto to record Two Steps with Bob Ezrin who dialed it all in. Sure Mike Monroe is a dude who looks like a lady on the cover but Micheal had some gruff in that voice of his. Stellar album from the opening tune which is a CCR cover of Up Around The Bend. HighSchool/I Can’t Get it/Cutting Corners and thanks to Hanoi and boys we all learned what Boiler actually meant! The crazy thing is I bought Two Steps in October 84 and by December 84 these guys were finished. I’m not going down that road as it has been written a million times over but man what a phenomenal crafted rock album.
Thanks for reading Folk’s Part 3 will be up in a few days.
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