Classic Rock Bottom

As this is the 48th album in the series I thought up all by myself, it means that there's at least four more albums to go for this to reach a year. It actually should be more than four since it has to run past 11/6 to make it "official".

There's two more albums set after this week's selection, so keep your fingers crossed. Or don't. It doesn't matter to me.

This week's selection is Loverboy's Wildside, released in 1987. It is their first album not certified platinum in the U.S. but it did reach gold status. Their four previous albums were certified 2x platinum in the US at the very least so interest in the group was definitely waning. 

The album peaked at #42 on the U.S charts and is the last studio album to chart. Three singles were released with "Notorious" the only one to chart.

I believe I received this album thru Columbia House and, rebel that I was, probably never paid for it. That's what rebels did back then. I also remember being thoroughly underwhelmed and still am. There's some decent tracks but nothing that really grabs you.

Reviews for this album were not kind from what I remember. Allmusic.com isn't too kind with their 2 star review (below) and Loverboy supposedly weren't happy with the album and didn't tour to support it. This would also be their last album until 1997's Six

Although it went gold, Wildside made it clear that Loverboy's polished hard rock formula was running out of gas. Still, the band was able to manage a couple of good Loverboy rockers, such as the Top 40 hit "Notorious," to make it worthwhile for long-time followers of the group.

Wildside

1. Notorious
2. Walkin' On Fire
3. Break It To Me Gently
4. Love Will Rise Again
5. Can't Get Much Better
6. Hometown Hero
7. Wildside
8. Don't Let Go
9. That's Where My Money Goes
10. Read My Lips
11. Don't Keep Me In The Dark

Availability: OOP but a used copy can be had for around $4.

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I own this on vinyl, got suckered into cause I liked their previous album and Notorious was, you know, pretty a'ight!  But then it all went downhill from there.  The opening title track, good riff, nice beat, maybe I could dance to it if I had enough to drink, sounded good somewhere on a mix-tape as well, but then it all goes downhill from there.  Album cover was pretty a'ight as well!  Hot girls on bikes, you know, pretty cool stuff.  So it all seemed, but then it just went down hill there...  OK, maybe it went downhill from every angle...  The title track didn't hold up well and the keyboard heavy tracks that follow it really weren't well written.  Was there something going on in the band at the time?  Who knows...  maybe a quick wiki check would clarify, but aint nobody got time for that.

I loved their debut album, one could make a case its their best, and they would be right as far as I see it.  They were fresh, innovative and sounded like no one else, and Get Lucky really worked as well, but it had some overplaying issues and was more radio friendly than the debut so that's my tipping point for the debut being their best.  But I digress...  Maybe not, I really wanted these guys to grow and get better with each album, but this was like falling off a cliff. 

My vinyl copy is still practically brand-spankin-new cant say its ever seen a stylus for then 3-4 times ever and from the sounds of side 2, some of these songs may have never seen it...

Interesting slice of time, sad to see a great band fail when time was left for them to shine!

This is one I've never really put much though into purchasing.  The only song I recognize by name is Notorious.  It appears on the greatest hits disc Big Ones and I've always thought it was a good song.

Listening through this, underwhelming is definitely the best word to describe it.  It certainly has some late 80's cheese, like the song Break It To Me Gently.  Although Loverboy always used fairly heavy keyboards, they seem to have taken over here.  At least until Love Will Rise Again comes along.  It has that great Paul Dean guitar work and feels like a song that could have easily appeared on Keep It Up or Lovin' Every Minute of It.  Looking at the ever valuable Wikipedia listing for the album, I see a lot of non-Loverboy names in the songwriting, including this song that sounds like classic Loverboy.

From that point the album just plays on.  I may have heard the title track, not sure.  Sounds like I hear some horns on that song.  That's Where My Money Goes is pretty bad.  More horns.  I don't mind horns from time to time, but they just don't sit right on a Loverboy album.  More on the next song too.

Well, I'm now satisfied that I never picked this album up at the used CD store.  It was a good choice and you have potentially saved me about 5 bucks.  Good job Jonny.

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