Customer Reviews

Can't Hold Back

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

 

 

Pure Prairie League released this CD in 1979 after going through yet another band re-organization. This is not a great CD by any means, and not one of PPL's best, but is noteworthy in that it is the first time the general public had the opportunity to hear an amazing singer and guitar player named Vince Gill, who of course went on to become one of country music's most celebrated entertainers. The song selection on Can't Hold Back is it's primary weakness, although there are a few gems ("White Line," "Misery Train"). But the playing and singing are great, and this CD was followed by two much more solid efforts ("Firin' Up" and "Something In The Night"). If you are a Pure Prairie League fan, you may or may not like this CD because PPL went off in a more rock/pop direction with Vince Gill leading the way. But if you are a Vince Gill fan, you will surely enjoy hearing Vince as a teen-aged rock-n-roller on this CD.

I saw PPL opening a show for The Marshall Tucker Band while on tour in support of this album. I was, of course, familiar with PPL from "Amie" and "Two-Lane Highway," but who was this guy doing most of the singing, playing guitar, banjo, and fiddle? It was Vince Gill, whom no one had even heard of at that point. I bought this album as soon as possible and loved it. Over the years I have searched in vain for a CD version and as soon as I saw it on Amazon, my order was in! Like other reviewers have said, "Can't Hold Back" does mark a change in direction for the band, to a more polished sound with some strings and horns thrown in here and there and songwriting that takes a more "pop" direction. Not every song is a gem, so I give it four stars instead of five. I could listen to "Goodbye So Long" over and over. In fact, I do. If you like good songs with good vocal harmonies and instrumental virtuosity from the late 70s/early 80s, like Firefall, Dan Fogelberg, Pure Prairie League, etc., you will like "Can't Hold Back." Plus, it has a nice, low price, too. Buy it!

I first owned this album on 8-track. (Yes, I said 8-track!) I couldn't find the cassette anywhere for the longest time, but eventually did. Well, needless to say with technology today, cassette wasn't the way to go but I struggled through it until one day my cassette broke.

I searched quite along time to find this CD, of course until along came Amazon!

This is a great CD if you like Pure Prairie League!

PPL's first release with a very young Vince Gill showcases his vocal prowess. While a valiant effort was made to retain some of the classic prairie sound, it was very obvious that the band was moving to a slicker more radio friendly sound starting with this album. Actually Pure Prairie League had become stale without Craig Fuller and was overdue for a fresh invigoration. To some degree Can't Hold Back is that breath of fresh air however it contains a few too many forgettable fillers to rank much higher than a 3 star.
The next two PPL releases with Vince further developed the new sound and contain stronger songs. And the guys were rewarded with 3 hits too.