Customer Reviews

Big Ones

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If I have to read one more review about "faceless corporate rock from the shallow 80's music pool"...please...If all of these bands like Foreigner, Styx, Supertramp, Toto, Boston, Loverboy, REO Speedwagon, Survivor, Journey, etc. were really faceless and bland corporate rockers how come their names are the only ones that come up to define a certain period in top 40 history? Sure, these bands continue to take heat from critics and nay-sayers alike, but they all had their strong suits. Loverboy churned out some memorable pop songs like "Turn Me Loose", "Working For The Weekend", "Lovin' Every Minute Of It", "When It's Over", "The Kid Is Hot Tonight", "Hot Girls In Love", "This Could Be The Night" and "Notorious". If you are going to criticize these corporate rockers, so to speak, let's take a good look at today's music: Britney Spears, Hanson, N'SYNC, Backstreet Boys, Ricky Martin, Enrique Iglesias, Sisqo, and countless other manufactured-to-sell pop bands. I'd take Loverboy and any of those old corporate rock bands any day. At least they weren't catering only to the under 16 crowd.

Ever since these Canadian boys invaded the US in the early 80's Loverboy has been a favorite of mine, and being in radio has given me a HUGE opportunity to follow these guys quite regularly. I've only seem them perform twice, and the last time I could tell that Mike Reno has lost a tiny bit of his ability to hit some of the higher notes...but he STILL sounded pretty good. 'Big Ones' is probably one of the better examples of what 80's rock & roll was all about. Who could forget 'Workin' For The Weekend' (a blue-collar anthem to this day) and 'The Kid Is Hot Tonight' and gosh, all the rest--fantastic bubble-gum harder than average pop-rock music.

Loverboy, more than most pop bands of the 80's knew how to produce an immediately likeable guitar-riff (much like Def Leppard was able to do--only maybe not as good) and always kept the energy flowing high. They were no strangers to ballads, either, and they were ALL top-notch as well. But what I think could make or break a band in the 80's was the ability to tour and promote albums, and THAT is where Loverboy excelled, again more than most pop bands. These guys seemed to be in the big arenas every few months! I have NO idea where they managed to write new songs--let alone get into a studio to record them, but that is exactly what they did, and through the late 80's you could COUNT on a new Loverboy release coming out every few months like clockwork. And they were good, too--really good on stage, which doesn't hurt. These guys may not be looked at as a serious rock & roll band, but I don't care--I LIKE Loverboy, and probably always will. Great CD.

Canadian rock during the 80's: there's Bryan Adams, Rush, Glass Tiger, and the Toronto-founded Loverboy. When it comes down a definitive single by them "Turn Me Loose" is definitely a candidate, with its pulsing bass, chugging guitar, and the hunger apparent in Mike Reno's voice when he says "I gotta do it my way or no way at all" which more or less sums up the fierce mindset of the protagonist.

The other is the hard-hitting guitar and synth workout of the anthemic "Working For The Weekend" from Get Lucky, of which this is the best single from one of their best albums. Three other songs from this album are the hard rock hoochie-coo of "Lucky Ones," the pounding "When It's Over" and the not-too impressive "Take Me To The Top."

Of the songs that I heard when I became aware of them, the first one, "Lovin' Every Minute Of It" and its pounding tribal rhythms, synths and chanting, sported some backing vocals that make it sound more like Def Leppard. Yes, the song was written by a certain Robert "Mutt" Lange, although it lacks the lustre of his later works, it does have his signature. The other single from the Lovin' Every Minute Of It album, the synth ballad "This Could Be The Night," was clearly trying to capitalize on Reno's duet with Heart's Ann Wilson on "Almost Paradise" (not on this compilation) and made the group sound more like Foreigner. Still a memorable ballad. And as if that weren't enough, they repeated the formula on their contribution to Top Gun, "Heaven In Your Eyes," which is the best of the hard rock ballads, what with the hard-hitting power vocals and guitars in the chorus.

"Notorious" from their last studio album, was quite a kicker, produced as it was by Bruce Fairbairn and co-written by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora. Their last stab at greatness was enhanced by a video featuring a bevy of beauties representing girls who were "every mother's nightmare, every schoolboy's dream." Although I find the belted wish of "I want to be your slave" a bit demeaning.

The Bob Rock-produced "For You" and "Ain't Looking For love" are harder-edged numbers with more emphasis on guitar and power vocals in the chorus. Ditto for "The Kid Is Hot Tonite," from their first album, is what the early Cars would sound like if they had the hard-driving guitars in the chorus. The keyboards could easily fit on a Cars album. Mike Reno's intense vocals and Paul Dean's hard guitars encapsulated the power formula of Loverboy, and what made it work. After that, it was a matter of whether the song itself was good.

The exclusion of "Dangerous" from Lovin' Every Minute Of It or "Almost Paradise" might make this incomplete to some. Still, a worthy compilation of a band that in a timely manner broke up right at the end of the 80's, leaving behind one brand of 80's hard rock.

I was in high school when Loverboy was popular. I bought all of the albums and liked most of their songs. This CD definitely has all of the highlights from all of their albums. It even has a couple of the popular songs that weren't on the albums, but on movie soundtracks.Every song on here is good. I had forgotten about some of these songs; Loverboy doesn't get much airplay anymore. But when I listened to it the first time, it took me back 15 years. A few of the songs might sound a little dated, but I forgot how GOOD some of these songs were. I used to know all of the lyrics to these songs, and it was amazing, after such a long time, how they came flooding back.One disappointment with this CD is the omission of "Strike Zone", but that can be found on the "Keep It Up" CD. Otherwise, this is a great buy!

During the peak of arena rock in the late-70's through the mid-80's, bands that were on the cusp of stardom for several years such as Styx, Journey, and REO Speedwagon, would finally get their just due as their albums would spawn several hit singles as well as successful tours. After their hit making days were over, classic rock stations would provide an outlet for them and would in effect make their music timeless. However, when programming directors were assembling their playlists, a few bands would fall through the cracks. One of the best bands was Loverboy, a hard rock quintet from Canada. Led by their talented and photogenic singer Mike Reno, the band were all over the radio during the first half of the 1980's as albums such as Get Lucky and Keep It Up would be enormously successful. Their sound, which equally balanced synthesizer and guitar, produced a string of hit singles that were accessible to both pop and hard rock music fans. Sadly, their music is rarely heard these days and outside of their native Canada, they've become almost a footnote in music history. Released in 1989, Big Ones contains most of their hit singles and shows why Loverboy has become the most underrated band of the arena rock era.

Right from the memorable synth hook of the opening track "Working for the Weekend", the band's catchy sound is on full display. This track has become their signature song, like "Tom Sawyer" is to Rush, and is one of the best songs of the era. The hit singles "Turn Me Loose", "Hot Girls in Love", and "Lovin' Every Minute of It" are all great hard rock songs complete with memorable hooks. Lesser hits such as "Lucky Ones" and "Notorious" rock a little harder but are just as catchy. The band also had a knack for the power ballad, the best one being "When It's Over", a track that is passionate without being cheesy. The huge hits "This Could Be the Night" and "Heaven in Your Eyes" come off sounding like prom themes and are an acquired taste. The lesser known singles "Take Me to The Top" and "The Kid Is Hot Tonite" are also very good. Like a lot of greatest hits albums, previously unreleased songs were also added to the collection. However, the tracks "For You", "Ain't Looking For Love", and "Too Hot" are all very good and on par with their hits. Although the band would later release another compilation with more tracks called Loverboy Classics in 1994, it's not as consistent as Big Ones. In closing, Big Ones is an outstanding compilation from one of the best arena rock bands of the 1980's.

Mention the name Loverboy to anyone who grew up in the eighties, and they'll say either "Working For The Weekend" or "that guy in the headband." Loverboy was a competent power pop quintet, and that shows in this collection of their biggest hits. Yeah, "Working For The Weekend" is here, along with "Turn Me Loose", which twenty years after its release still sounds excellent. Basically, all their singles are here, with the glaring exception of "Queen of The Broken Hearts," which actually was a bigger hit than many of the songs included (it can be found on the "Keep It Up" and "Super Hits" CD's) and arguably their best known video. If that had been included, my rating would be better. Still, a decent collection for the casual fan.

Every song is good, and I believe that this collection is better than Loverboy "Classics". The only complaint I have is...HOW COULD THEY HAVE LEFT OFF "QUEEN OF THE BROKEN HEARTS"!!!!!!

If you like Loverboy, then this is an excellent cd. Every song on it rocks. Highly suggested.

This is a good "best of" and contains all I need from the band, all the hits (the big ones) and more. I have to tell that there is a few songs I never heard before (fillers ?) Overall, this cd contains the essential and it is a very good album. God, that was more than twenty years ago !

While Loverboy Classics has more good songs on it, this CD has three songs recorded with their late 80s lineup. "For You" and "Too Hot" are great songs that you won't find elsewhere. A lot of good songs are not on this CD, so if you really love Loverboy you need to get Classics, Temperature's Rising (which has 7 songs not on Classics) and this CD, or else just buy every recording Loverboy ever made, because all have great songs on them.