Customer Reviews

Fire Still Burns

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I had both these albums on cassette when they were released in the mid 80's and had worn them out. Russ Ballard, the former Argent front man can certainly "hold his head up" with these two albums. A call it a mix of rock meets pop, very easy to listen to. Fantastic guitar and great drum perfectlty meet with Ballard's strong vocals. Just listen to Amazon's samples for a taste of what the rest of the songs are like. Honestly, there is not one bad song on this CD. The first 8 songs are from his self titled 1984 LP. My favories are Voices, Two Silhouettes, I can't hear you no more and Playing with fire. Then the last 8 tracks are from 1985's "The Fire Still Burns". My picks are Once a Rebel, Hey Bernadette, Searching and the Fire Still Burns. A special mention for the magnificent Time & Your Time is Gonna Come. Although seperate songs they are linked, like a mini epic. To have these on CD is a dream come true, but great for the budget that both are on one CD. I have wanted these for so long. As seperate CD's you would have to pay 3 times as much as they are imports. Thanks Amazon.

I was first exposed to Russ Ballard by his song Voices© on a local hard-rock station several years back. I rather enjoyed this track's sound and feel-- you know, the whole duality of man, and goin' schizo and all that rot-- and attempted to track down this particular cut on CD-Single (this was before I got into the whole MP3-Sharing-Over-The Internet thing). Following this vainglorious quest, I finally broke down and grabbed this double-album CD, all the while hoping that the one tune I wanted wasn't the only good song on it.

Fortunately, I found most of his other musical pieces rather enjoyable and relaxing, which is especially therapeutic after a long hard day of work. Now what kinda tunage is to be expected from this quasi-obscure artist, you ask? Well, except for Voices©, most of Ballard's tracks don't sound all that much different from the usual mid-80s combo-Pop-and-Hard-Rock tunes that you'd've heard on rock radio back in the day. Basically, if you dig the works of Journey™, The Cars™, Toto™, or Foreigner™, you'll likely enjoy Russ Ballard's work as well. And if you don't-- well, I guess you'd best listen to something else...

...`Late

The first time I heard this song was on an episode of Miami Vice. Tubbs and Crockett were streaming to an island in a power boat of some kind after some bad dude. The song captured me. It was the the most break-taking form of rock I had heard in years. The beat - Drums, guitars,and the orchestra,were all placed with wonder in my mind. Several weeks after that I went to a local record store ,and of course purchased the cassette. I enjoyed many miles of listening to Russ Ballard,and that song,"Voices".Unfortunately, as time went on,and the kids grew older, the cassette was either lost or left outside like so many other things my kids drug out from the house. Of course they didnt know any better. The song now, after many years is still as refreshing as always. It is a time classic. This song will make you press the gas pedal down to the floor of your,what-ever you are driving,and become a vice officer in Miami. (Just dont let the cops catch ya ) Voices has a beat all of its own,and Russ Ballard has a voice that capitalizes that song in a way no other artist can. It is one of a kind. Buy it, play it,jam with it. I just wished there's was someway I could download the whole song instead of a sample.

I'm a huge "Miami Vice" fan, and this CD has 3 great songs from that show; "In the Night", "Voices", and "Your Time is Gonna Come". There are other songs that are good on this CD also, I'm enjoying it very much.

Russ Ballard is a bit of Aldo Nova to me. I remember how much I used to play both these artist in my youth and I thought they played some of the greatest rock ever made. But as time goes on, your references are no longer the same and sometimes that result in a different feeling towards music from the past - especially when it's as time typical as in this case. Now, more than 15 years later I can still feel that songs like "I can't hear you no more", "In the night" (covered later on by Ace Frehley from Kiss), "Playing with fire", "The omen" and "Hey Bernadette" still touch me, due to their melodic and captivating style. But I think it has a lot to do with nostalgia. Once upon a time I wouldn't hesitate rating this (originally two separate LP's) with 5 stars, but today there can't be any higher than 3 stars.

I have both Russ Ballard tapes (yes I like cassettes!). I got the self-titled Russ Ballard (1984) for free in a box of tapes - and really liked it! I'm not sure why! But definately Russ & his gang can write a great song. I recognized 'In the night' from my Ace Frehley 'Frehley's Comet' tape.

C'mon - don't expect too much! Jeepers! 'The fire still burns' is a little heavier and I like it even better! - The song 'Dream On' is covered by one of my favorite bands "King Kobra".

Great 'generic rock' - don't expect too much and you'll love the music - like me.

Russ Ballard is an amazing vocalist & musician.I used to have the cassette tape of the self titled RUSS BALLARD.I wore out that damn tape in about two months,I listened to it every day on the ride home from work.It starts off with the song I can't hear you no more,It's mediocre & lame.Skip it.The second song,in the night is much better,atmospheric and sort of Queensrychish.The third song,Two silhouettes is about him catching his woman cheating.The fourth song is the best,Voices,a very cool song about schizophrenia.The fifth song is,A Woman like You,a halfway decent love song.Song 6 is Day to Day,about living one day to the next after having your heart ripped out.Sad but good.The seventh song is Playing with fire,the second best song in the set.It's very catchy,the lyric is"Don't touch or you'll burn your hand,You still don't understand,Your'e playing with fire.The eighth song,The Last Time,is about the last time your'e gonna see your lover.A sad,slow song.This was the last song on the tape,but not the CD.The next song,Once a Rebel,is about saying goodbye to your wild and crazy younger days. The tenth song is The Omen,about the signs right before the breakup.Another sad one.Number eleven is 'Hey Bernadette',about a woman named Bernadette.Kinda dull.The twelth song is searching,another Queensryche like song,which is a good thing.The next song,Time,starts off with a guitar riff that sounds very simalar to the guitar riff from the song "Suite"Sister Mary by you know who.It,s a very good song,different subject than the Queensryche song which is also excellent.The following song,Your time is gonna come is an upbeat song about good things ahead.The fifteenth song,Dream on,is about following your dream,and not giving up.It's an awesome rock tune,which was covered by King Kobra,who do an almost note for note version of it.The sixteenth and final track is The Fire Still Burns,about keeping your drive as you grow older.It's a good song that I think was written for Rick Springfeild.

THE FIRE STILL BURNS is a 16-track CD featuring two of Russ Ballard's albums- 1984's RUSS BALLARD and 1985's THE FIRE STILL BURNS- in their entirety on one CD. The former is a collection of straight-ahead pop-rock songs including the hits "Voices" and "Two Silhouettes", whereas the latter seems to be one of many albums whose theme is time and what its passage means. Some of the songs on the second half of this CD have inspired me to skip my high school graduating class reunion in favor of looking good for my favorite actresses, but the first half is just as great. This is a CD that any serious rock fan must own.

This album is a must have for any Russ Ballard Fan. I recently rediscovered his music after some rather 'interesting' experiences. This 2 in one album features 2 of the best albums Russ has released (so far). All the songs are classics in their own right, and can be called definative rock and roll. No pretenses, no heavey overproductions that wre becomming commonplace in the 1980's, just straight up rock. Anthem rock, kick the MAN up and down rock.

Really there is not one bad song on this entire album. And for the price, it can't be beat. I highly recommend this.

I just recently re-discovered Russ Ballards music, and it has been a real treat to finially have this album once again. I took a few years break from the hard driving Rock and Roll sound that Russ delivers, but now this sounds better than ever. The songs that really speak to me on this one are "Your Time Is Gonna Come" and "Dream On", 2 great rock anthems that should be on everyone's lips, in my opinion.
The sound is clear, crisp, precise, and evokative. Russ has a great voice, very distinctive, and this album sounds as great today as when I bought my 1st copy on vinyl. Miss this one at your peril.