Customer Reviews

Harder Faster

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have several April Wine albums and compilations and I think this is their most consistent studio album. The songwriting is very good and you won't find any filler. The big hit was I Like To Rock which still gets played on some stations. 21st Century Schizoid Man is a well done cover of King Crimson. My personal favorites are Babes In Arms (classic riff!), Ladies Man (a smooth rocker), and the moving Before The Dawn. Better Do It Well is probably the only song I have never put on an AW compilation but it aint bad. The only knock against this cd is that it is short. But how many albums these days are solid from start to finish. I also suggest First Glance, All The Rockers, and The Hits!

This is a great hard rock record from a band that never got popular in the states for some reason. Harder Faster is filled with excellent guitar riffs and even better solos. I think this is April Wine's best overall work, not a bad song on the CD. The pace of the songs generally matches the CD's title also. "I Like to Rock" is the one song everyone remembers from Harder Faster and it ends with a great amped up cover of King Crimson's complex "21st Century Schizoid Man". If your a fan of 70s hard rock and aren't familiar with April Wine this is the one to start with.

Late 70's early 80's was a great time in rock music. Punk had come along with bands like the Ramones and the Clash, Metal had taken hold with bands like Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Judas Priest. This was the first I had heard of April Wine, and I think I bought it for the cover, as the car looks like the 75 Dodge Duster I used to drive. I was very pleasantly surprised when I put this on the turntable and it rocked!! I Like To Rock, Tonight, 21st Century Schizoid Man, all made this a great album that we played over and over during the summer of 1980. I recently thought about this band again after seeing Frank Marino play in October of 2005, (he is still rocking out like nobody's business), and picked up this CD. It sounded as great as the first time I remember hearing it at age 17, fresh, slightly raw, great guitar work, catchy hooks. Album is somewhat short, as was common at the time, a little over 30 minutes, but not a dull one.

In the late 1970's, the veteran Canadian Hard-Rock quintet April Wine took on a tighter sound than they had generally displayed on their mid-70's offerings. They began with 1978's FIRST GLANCE, which featured the blistering, multi-layered guitar workout of "Roller" and the harmonica-heavy confessional "Rock 'N' Roll Is A Vicious Game." They upped the ante in 1979 with the appropriately titled (and sexually suggestive) HARDER...FASTER. Recorded in '79 and released in early 1980, this album showed off April Wine's ever-increasingly complex musicianship and higher decibel register, and became what was one of their best albums up to that point.

The band gets off to a thunderous start with "I Like To Rock," which lets loose with a guitar assault that shows clearly that they had become a full-fledged Heavy Metal band, despite their penchant for sound variety and the occasional slow number. The synthesizer arpeggio has been used in countless commercial breaks in TV sports programs and still never fails to inspire a bit of excitement. (Channel 9 in New Jersey used it quite a bit during N.Y. Mets broadcasts in the early '80's!) The ending is one of the best in rock 'n' roll history, as one guitarist starts playing the riff to the Beatles' "Ticket To Ride" while the second one goes into the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" and the third goes into the riff for this song itself; all three guitarists overlapping each other with such perfect timing. It's great! "Say Hello" takes it down a notch or two; however, even being the 'slow' track on this album doesn't prevent it from being a taut, upbeat song, with one killer guitar solo! "Tonite" is a great example of April Wine's incredible versatility; starting out as a mid-paced acoustic-guitar tune with soft, melodic vocals by guitarist, lead singer and chief songwriter Myles Goodwyn, it launches itself into a brilliant speed-metal workout which lasts until the final minute of the song, which ends with the original acoustic treatment. Bald and bearded drummer Jerry Mercer shows he can beat the skins like a madman, while bassist Steve Lang keeps perfect time with him. (April Wine never got enough credit for their great rhythm section.)

While the macho braggadocio of "Ladies Man" never made much of an impression on me (in more ways than one---wink, wink), one of the album's biggest surprises comes next: Guitarist Brian Greenway takes over on lead vocals on the romantic anthem "Before The Dawn," which he penned, and gives an excellent, emotional performance---and plays a mean lead guitar solo to boot! The Goodwyn-sung "Babes in Arms" and "Better Do It Well" fare okay, but then it's time for this album's biggest surprise of all: An absolutely *brilliant* cover version of the King Crimson classic "21st Century Schizoid Man" closes it out, and in such great style! All three guitarists (Goodwyn, Greenway and Gary Moffet) interplay so well in the instrumental section, and Brian Greenway gets his second and final lead vocal, sounding just as evil as Greg Lake did when he sang this song for King Crimson back in 1969! (For some reason, they misspelled his name in the songwriting credits.) With this track, April Wine show that they were always one of the most talented Hard Rock/Heavy Metal bands around, even if their popularity was confined mainly to their native Canada.

With HARDER...FASTER, April Wine showed that they were just about to "journey to the stars" with their blazing "rock 'n' roll guitars"---their next album, 1981's THE NATURE OF THE BEAST was even faster and heavier, plus it gave us one great rock album cover! It would produce April Wine's great power ballad and only U.S. Top 40 hit, "Just Between You And Me"; however, American stardom was unfortunately not to be for this Montreal quintet. It's too bad, although April Wine has definitely taken on the mantle of being a rock connossieur band, which is pretty unique and cool in its own way. They are among my favorite rock bands of all time, and HARDER...FASTER shows why!

MOST RECOMMENDED

HARDER...FASTER is a great record by Canada's best musical export.The group's roots in Zeppelin's hard rock and the Beatles' pop are evident on almost every track, especially "I Like To Rock", "Say Hello", "Ladies Man", and "Before The Dawn." "Tonite" is about someone reaching for something, and over the years has really inspired me to step up efforts to get myself in better physical condition. On the other hand, the closing cover of "21st Century Schizoid Man" should never have been put on the album in the first place. Overall, though, this album is truly killer and is essential listening for any fan of good, real hard rock.

If you are a fan of rock, Canadian rock or April Wine, Harder Faster is their best work. It was their first album with the three guitar attack and their first album that received decent airplay in the States. Nature of the Beast, AW's next album was commercially more successful, but it was musically not as good. AW was on top of their game with this album. Their sound was raw, not polished like their next records and it was great rock & roll. The three guitars gave them their own unique sound and allowed interplay between them that was unlike anybody else. Everyone should have a little AW in their collection and this is the album to have. AW was not as good before or after Harder Faster. Enjoy!

From start to finish this is the best overall cd given the song quality, this release has a real edge to it. I dig Brian's vocals. This is not as polished as later releases from the band

If you are a fan, search for the remastered Holland/EU import from EMI (2000). Mastering is still not perfect but I found it to be far superior to the muddy Capitol/US release. I purchased mine from Amazon but don't see it listed at this time. Not sure but I think that the 2008 import that is listed is different.

This is a fairly unknown 70's hard rock band. Their biggest ablum was nature of the beast, but in my opinion this is a better album. It is faster and more upbeat where NOTB was heavier and darker.

Their best work was "Live at the El Macombo" where they opened up for the stones, sadly that album seems to be unavailable.

If you like this genre and are looking for more off the wall bands in the same vein try Fastway as well.
Fastway

Another CD that just kicks it!!! in a good car system. April Wine was a staple with girls back in the day; I promise every old-schooler that listened to them will attest to that fact. Amazon is giving this away,so buy it. Guitar drivin' rock from Canada---get some!