Classic Rock Bottom

ALBUM OF THE WEEK # 412 THE ALARM - EYE OF THE HURRICANE (1987)

Disclaimer: All info that does not reside in my brain is gathered from wikipedia.com (mostly because Jon can't stand it) unless otherwise noted.

Eye of the Hurricane is the third studio album from The Alarm. It was released in 1987 on IRS Records. The album was initially released on vinyl LP and cassette, reaching number 23 in the UK charts and number 77 in the US charts. A CD version was released later the same year and in 2000 an extended re-mastered version was released, including extra tracks.

I'll take a page from Jon's book and include the allmusic.com review:

"This should have been the album that put the Alarm on the path to major stardom; instead, it marked the limits of their appeal. From the early fervor of their punk/acoustic debut, the group had evolved into more of a mainstream rock act without ever getting out from under the shadow of their mentors, U2. In fact, here, they sounded more like U2 than ever, and now that that group had ascended to superstardom, the comparison only hurt them. The signal hit here was "Rain In The Summertime," an overproduced leadoff track followed by "Rescue Me" and "Presence Of Love." All three tracks got AOR radio play in the U.S., so you couldn't say the Alarm wasn't getting exposure, especially when they were touring with Bob Dylan. However, they weren't getting through."

The album is available used on Amazon for just over 8 dollars before shipping, but I found it for a dollar at a second hand store.

The tracks on the back of the CD are listed as:

Folklore

1. Rain In The Summertime

2. Newtown Jericho

3. Hallowed Ground

4. One Step Closer To Home

5. Shelter

 Electric

6. Rescue Me

7. Permanence In Change

8. Presence Of Love

9. Only Love Can Set Me Free

10. Eye Of The Hurricane

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The Stand was played on Mtv a ton, and I never liked it so this band slipped by me with nary a second thought ever until now. That song and the infamous REO lyric I like to quote go hand in hand as to what was wrong with it…

“some songs have no meaning
And some songs try too hard
Tryin' to say it all
And end up saying nothin'”

The other problem with this band is summed up in the Allmusic review… “the group had evolved into more of a mainstream rock act without ever getting out from under the shadow of their mentors, U2. In fact, here, they sounded more like U2 than ever” … Prophetic stuff …

So, there’s where my head is going into this one. And that’s where it is at the end of it as well. Sorry, boss, I don’t hear anything I like on this one.

Had this album and it really did nothing for me except for a few songs. Might still have this on vinyl somewhere. Now have a greatest hits disc and that really doesn't do anything for me either, except for a few songs.

Yep. They really didn't get through with me either.

As I wrote in FB, I was a Alarm-fan back in the 80's. I noticed them in '83, and then when they released "Strength" in '85, I think it was, Bought it, and really liked it.

I didn't really think, they sounded that much like U2. They were from the same box of bands like U2, Simple Minds, Big Country (didn't Mike Peters, the singer of The Alarm, became the lead-singer in BC, at some point?), The Cult (until they wanted to be AC/DC), The Cure and The Mission among others imo.

Actually "The Strenght" sounded more like Springsteen than U2 to me.

When this album was released, I loved it even more than "The Strength".

It was like it was really that sound I was looking for at the time, late '87, I think it was.

Presence of love was one of my favorite songs that year, even though it was the year of "Joshua Tree", "Hysteria" and "Appetite For Destruction". Of course those 3 albums were better than this album, and they lasted longer, but in the late summer, fall of '87, I really really liked this album. 

It hasn't aged that well, though, and the next album The alarm released in '89, I think, I was kind of tired of their sound, even though there was one very good track on that album as well.

This album has some great memories for me, and I can still listen to it now and then.

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