Customer Reviews

Eye of the Hurricane

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

 

 

These poor blokes never caught a break. They were "The Acoustic Clash." They were a "Poor Man's U2." They were everything but stars. It's too bad, because all their albums have glorious moments, and live, they were anthemic. I saw them in NYC in the late 80's and Neil Young joined them on stage to jam on "Rocking In The Free World." When they played live, they played up a storm. The Alarm just never quite got it together on record.

Except this one. Ten songs, and though the lyrics never rise as far as they could, they never descend to anything as bad as their final album, "Raw." I can still put on "Rain In the Summertime" and ride a blissful wave of many seasons at the beach. "Rescue Me" is the kind of plea for love's deliverance that anyone can relate to. This is the only Alarm album other than "Standards" to have remained in my collection after many years, and I highly recommend "Eye Of The Hurricane" to lovers of anthemish 80's rock.

The new remastered import is fantastic with soem great extra tracks. Amazon is not listing it yet, but will be soon I think. The VH1 reunion has sparked new interest in the band, often ignored here because they were falsely claimed to sound too much like U@. They don't and they were often much better - they don't have the excessive egos of bono and edge.
Get the remastered version of this with 22 tracks. All 78 minutes are great.

You cannot compare The Alarm to U2! Anyone who does is not a TRUE FAN of either. I love both U2 and The Alarm, have all their albums and they are both awsome. That being said.. Eye of The Hurricane is Strength upon Declaration, powerful lyrics that stir you as much as the music does. The Alarm is one of the best bands of the 80's and I wish they had stayed together!

These poor blokes never caught a break. They were "The Acoustic Clash." They were a "Poor Man's U2." They were everything but stars. It's too bad, because all their albums have glorious moments, and live, they were anthemic. I saw them in NYC in the late 80's and Neil Young joined them on stage to jam on "Rocking In The Free World." When they played live, they played up a storm. The Alarm just never quite got it together on record.

Except this one. Ten songs, and though the lyrics never rise as far as they could, they never descend to anything as bad as their final album, "Raw." I can still put on "Rain In the Summertime" and ride a blissful wave of many seasons at the beach. "Rescue Me" is the kind of plea for love's deliverance that anyone can relate to. This is the only Alarm album other than "Standards" to have remained in my collection after many years, and I highly recommend "Eye Of The Hurricane" to lovers of anthemish 80's rock.

A bunch of my friends from high school / college listened to U2, The Alarm, The Police... I still love The Alarm's music. It is simply awesome music. The composition, lyrics, the feel of the music is perfect.

This is a classic album and should be getting more air time on the Hitz radio format

i'd heard of and heard the alarm on the radio but never really "listened to them." i spent the summer of 1988 on the island of Ios Greece and this is where the alarm first came to my attention. every afternoon at the far-out cafe the guy playing the music would put on rain in the summertime. finally after the 3rd or 4th time i heard this song and thinking what a great tune it was i asked who it was . i've been a fan of the alarm since . when i got home i went out and bought eye of the hurricane and played it to death .i still play it on a fairly regular basis .a sign of a good album i think. there's enough variety in the songs to keep it interesting and the songs themselves are all well written. the very radio friendly rain in the summertime to newtown jeicho and it's raw guitars.i was lucky enough to see the alarm in 1989 in vancouver they blew me away. the songs of this album that were played sounded even better. this may not be the alarms best album but it would make a fine introduction to them. later after seeing them live and deciding they weren't one hit wonders i went out and bought electric folklore and change. these albums are both great as well and true proof of the alarms staying power.the alarm are a great band and they never really got their do and just rewards always having to play in the shadow of U2 and the simple minds etc. if you're new to the alarm pick up this album or one of the other two mentioned and see what you missed in the 80's. the eye of the hurricane 4 stars...rain in the summertime ,an amstel beer and a girl named nina. what a great summer.

I'M SICK OF PEOPLE COMPARING THE ALARM TO U2.I HAVE ALL THE ALARM'S CD'S AND I HAVE ALL U2'S CD'S AND IF YOU ASK ME THE ALARM BLOWS U2 AWAY. THIS BAND BROKE UP WAY BEFORE IT'S TIME.THEIR LAST ALBUM RAW SHOULD HAVE PUT THEM TO SUPERSTAR STATUS.BUT WE ALL KNOW THAT CRITICS SOMETIMES CAN RUIN A BAND AND I THINK THIS BAND JUST GOT FED UP AND CALLED IT QUITS.MIKE PETERS HOW ABOUT A REUNION?

This is a guilty pleasure of mine, but I can't let affection stand in the way of the truth--Mike Peters simply didn't have the full measure of talent to put over the passion he wanted to express. I played "Marching On" and "The Stand" (not included on this disc) on college radio, and found them enjoyable, but more sizzle than steak. Those indeed sounded like the Clash, and this disc indeed sounds like U2. Nothing wrong with that, mind you; better that than all the Journey imitators around in the early 80s. But you just can't bottle it: By comparison The Alarm's anthemic rock just sound naggy and strident. Even the radio-friendly "Rain in the Summertime"--which I like a lot--is dangerously close to being cloying, especially the lyrics. "My body rises, taking me higher"? Honest? The Alarm got plenty of exposure and promotion, but just never caught on, never found their own voice. But they have a fiercely loyal audience, with some half-dozen good websites. Buy the cassette version of this and play it in the car. Using it for road tunes wells suits the slightness of the music.

I resubmit this review, to have it link to my current list.

This is a guilty pleasure of mine, but I can't let affection stand in the way of the truth--Mike Peters simply didn't have the full measure of talent to put over the passion he wanted to express. I played "Marching On" and "The Stand" (not included on this disc) on college radio, and found them enjoyable, but more sizzle than steak. Those indeed sounded like the Clash, and this disc indeed sounds like U2.

Nothing wrong with that, mind you; better that than all the Journey imitators around in the early 80s. But you can't bottle it: By comparison The Alarm's anthemic rock just sound naggy and strident. Even the radio-friendly "Rain in the Summertime"--which I like a lot--is dangerously close to being cloying, especially the lyrics. "My body rises, taking me higher"? Honest? The Alarm got plenty of exposure and promotion, but just never caught on, never found their own voice. But they have a fiercely loyal audience, with some half-dozen good websites. Make a cassette of this and play it in the car. Using it for road tunes wells suits the slightness of the music.