Customer Reviews

Hot Shots

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

 

 

Hot Shots! is a compilation of some of the best old fashioned and to-the-point rock music ever to come out of Canada. Like Bryan Adams and Loverboy, Trooper music didn't add anything new to the music industry but that was not the idea. With songs like We're Here for a good time and Raise a little hell, Trooper have demonstrated that rock music should be about fun and this album very much epitomizes that old time rock n roll sound. No pretentiousness, no BS, just good music. Highly recommended. Other Trooper albums worth listening to are: Flying Colours & The Last of the Gypsies.

Trooper was one of Canada's best 1970s pop rock bands. Influenced by Guess Who/BTO founder Randy Bachman (he produced the Vancouver quintet's first four albums), Trooper had a dozen top 20 hits north of the border between 1975 and '80. The band is still together, with lead vocalist Ra McGuire and guitarist Brian Smith touring around the country.

The question is, why has MCA (the label that released 7 of Trooper's 9 studio albums) not given the band its due with a decent compilation? Hot Shots was released right after the fourth album, so it's missing a huge part of the the group's history. Not only that, Hot Shots contains only 12 songs and 45 minutes -- far less than an average CD can hold. Finally, this cd has *terrible* sound quality, as if it was mastered from a beat-up 8-track tape.

Shame on MCA for spitting on Trooper's catalogue! Then again, I shouldn't be surprised. The label still hasn't released all the studio albums on CD.

This album brings back fond memories of my high school days. Who could forget The Boys in the bright white sports car? All of the girls wanted a boy in a white car when that album came out. They were H.O.T.

great trooper cd i know the lead singers son connor he is a cool guy and i met the lead singer for trooper they live in vancouver bc

This is the best "Greatest Hits" album, bar none! It doesn't matter if you're 50 years old or 5 years old, these songs are excellent. You can actually hear the guys having a ball singing them. This is a must for cruising and summer parties!

Forget Bryan Adams, Loverboy, et al; this is cheesehead, summer-cruisin' Canadian '70s rock at its best!

I bought this expensive CD for the same reason you are looking at it, to get Raise a Little Hell on CD. Let me tell you straight up that this CD sounds really, really bad. I read the previous review regarding the sound quality and asked myself, "How bad can it really be?" Its so bad, I threw it away. Now that's bad. I don't know if any of the other CDs are any better, but don't buy this one, you will be throwing 20 bills out the window.

This would be the perfect Trooper compilation, except for one glaring omission: "3 Dressed Up as a 9" was one of Trooper's best tunes, yet it was, for inexplicable reasons, not included. But all the rest are here: "The Boys in the Bright White Sports Car," "General Hand Grenade," and "Raise a Little Hell" being the most outstanding cuts. "Raise a Little Hell" ranks below Alice Cooper's "School's Out" but rivals Prism's "Young and Restless" and Twisted Sister's "We're Not gonna Take Take It" as a teen rock anthem.

Track Listings
1. The Boys In The Bright White Sports Car
2. Baby Woncha Please Come Home
3. General Hand Grenade
4. Two For The Show
5. Ready
6. Santa Maria
7. We're Here For A Good Time (Not A Long Time)
8. Oh Pretty Lady
9. (It's Been A) Long Time
10. Round Round We Go
11. Moment That It Takes
12. Raise A Little Hell

"Hot Shots" is a delightful collection featuring 12 of Trooper's best known Canadian radio classics. Produced by Randy Bachman (The Guess Who, Bachman-Turner Overdrive), for the most part, two of the selections here feature a bit of a BTO hook: the sassy "General Hand Grenade" and "Ready", both fine, outstanding rockers to boot, as are nearly all of the tracks on "Hot Shots". Trooper also bares its soulful side a la Pablo Cruise in "Round Round We Go". "Moment That It Takes" also displays a softer side. Neither of these two tracks fit in the general musical mold of the Trooper sound, which is earth shaking, in your face, Canadian rock 'n roll at its ultra-rocking best! Although the above-mentioned tracks are well worth the price of this disc, the real reason for making "Hot Shots" an essential purchase, is due to these outstanding CanCon classics: "Two For The Show", "Santa Maria", "We're Here For A Good Time (Not A Long Time)" and perhaps Trooper's best known rock anthem "Raise A Little Hell". These hits are all yours at an import level price, although it is worth the money. This is truly the ultimate party "crank up the volume and bug your landlord (or landlady)" CD. Buy "Hot Shots", before the party's gone - for good!