Customer Reviews

On Record

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

 

 

This is the original band and a hard to find CD. Could have been a lady and Bad Side of the Moon are classics and the ballads are well written, with all the that great seventies sound. Great guitar work and melodic riffs. A must have!!!!

On Record sounds remarkably different from April Wine's first album, but actually songwriting-wise it's just as good (and I mean that entirely as a compliment seeing as how I think VERY highly of their first album).

"Refuge" sounds like a throwback to the mid to late 60's rock artists such as the early energetic days of the Who, Kinks and Turtles. It features a really good verse melody and spectacular guitar soloing. When the shift takes place at the very end, the guitar work is, once again, truly fantastic and melodic. It seems like the band is beginning to lose their early blues rock influences and focus on being more of a slightly experimental rock band. So far, it's working perfectly.

"Didn't You" has a REALLY powerful verse melody that brings me to tears, and then the chorus is just... odd, haha. Actually the chorus reminds me of Paul Revere & the Raiders a little bit, at least whenever Paul Revere implemented an orchestral feeling to his music. Really good verse melody though- I can't stress that enough. Actually the use of the orchestra during the chorus is really cool and gives it a romantic/otherworldly feeling.

"Believe in Me" is a dramatic ballad with a tear-jerking and meaningful vocal melody. This might be my favorite song from On Record, though the diversity and the quality of everything else makes choosing a favorite track a VERY tough decision. It reminds me of Don McLean a little bit, but -and I mean no disrespect to McLean who had his share of memorable moments as well- I don't believe he ever created something that moved me THIS much. Some people might not care for the orchestration which is quite plentiful and noticeable, but I love it all the same.

"You Could Have Been a Lady" features quite the monster guitar riff! It's funky too. I love the verse melody and how it's sung with such authority. I get the feeling the glam rockers Slade were an inspiration for "Drop Your Guns" because the vocal melody reminds me of Slade quite a bit. Doesn't "Flow River Flow" contain such a BEAUTIFUL vocal melody? It's actually the verse melody in particular that leaves me totally satisfied. What a great, great song. It pretty much sums up why the 70's were so good, in fact.

April Wine really are one of the most underrated bands from the 70's. I always believed Procol Harum was quite underrated, but at least Procol Harum actually has at least two songs from their catalog played occasionally on the radio. April Wine just has "Just Between You and Me" and I haven't heard that song on the radio in literally years. What a shame. All this splendid songwriting in the early days is going by completely unnoticed by the majority of music listeners. I hope one day that changes.

hello, if you want the tune,"like a lady" you'll have to buy this. Well worth it and,"this is my life" is telling of the era that it was recorded right down to the bitter end.

I haven't heard their first album yet but I think this one is fairly good. This album is not as good as some of their later albums like "Harder Faster" or "The Nature of the Beast" but still worth listening to. The sound of this album is good considering that it comes from the 1970's. The best track on it,"You Could Have Been a Lady", is straight ahead April Wine. Most of the other tracks are a bit slower but lead singer "Myles Goodwyn's" vocals are still great. There are no bad tracks on the entire disc from my point of view. The instrumentation and production values are great despite some of the members of the band not being with them during this period. I do recommend this albm for any April Wine fans or for anyone who likes rock music from the early to mid 70's that has lots of melody.

This is the original line up and April Wine turns out some great guitar work on Could have been a lady and Bad side of the Moon. Great lyrics, and well written ballads. The sound takes you back to the early seventies when life was much simpler and music was all that mattered. This is a must have.

To me this was one of the best discs that this band put out before 'forever for now' It's got alot of rockers on it and songs that are melodic too. I like it better than any other early wine cd by far. Better than 'electric jewels' better than 'stand back' and the others too. THis one is well produced and more focused than their debut 'april wine' cd by far. They were on the right track and becoming a great band with this one. Some of their early music reminds me of the great 'guess who' bands stuff so that's a good thing too. I don't think that there's a bad song on this one.

The last four tracks are mostly done in a different style which is probably not what most people expected then from AW but my guess is that the guys were still searching for their road. Besides that "Farkus" is short but pleasurable instrumental, "You Could Have Been a Lady" is just great; then follow "Drop Your Guns" and "Bad Side of the Moon" being rather generic but very listenable rockers. Again, the second half sounds like it was done by another band but that doesn't mean it's done badly - it is actually pretty good.

This is not April Wine's original line up. James (Jim)Clench was not part of the original April Wine 1st album (with Fast Train). This is the album where Myles Goodwyn becomes lead singer and song writer. Excellent cuts are could have been a lady (a staple at all live shows), Bad side of the moon (an Elton John song) and Drop your guns (boycotted song in the US 'cause of the Vietnam war). This is classic April Wine
Enjoy!!!