Customer Reviews

Resolution

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

 

 

THE BOYS ARE BACK!! DON BARNES RETURNS AS LEAD SINGER AFTER AN ABSENCE FROM THE BAND'S LAST TWO STUDIO ALBUMS..AND THE RETURN OF HIS FORCEFULL VOICE HARKENS BACK TO CLASSIC .38 ALBUMS OF THE PAST. THE SOUND IS A LITTLE MELLOWER THAN IN THE PAST, ALMOST 'UNPLUGGED', BUT IT'S STILL GOOD OL' SOUTHERN ROCK AT IT'S BEST....

It has become much more greater than Bone Against Steel which I think is not live up to their reputation. Now that Don Barnes was back and with the support of Jim Peterik(formerly Survivor) they launched another tour de force. Overall impression is they turned back to where they started. 38 Special with southern rock flavor. It is not 80s primetime 38 Special but great rock nonetheless. Just Can't Leave You Alone sounds familiar to me because of Don Barnes vocal. Changed By Love and Shelter Me show excellent talent of songwriting pair Don Barnes and Jim Peterik. Particularly Shelter Me is one that you can never miss. Starting with R/B and gradually turned into dramatic rocker with enhancing chorus at the end. So this album shows 80 percent recopvery of one of the greatest rock bands of 80s. I just look forward to the next one.

Don Barnes returned to .38 Special for RESOLUTION, and the result was another great album. The band tried some new styles on a couple of songs, and added more acoustic guitars, plenty of mandolins, and some harmonica, and the result is sort of a cross between LONESOME JUBILEE-era Mellencamp and the Outlaws' first four albums. It may not be as pop-friendly as SPECIAL FORCES, but that's compensated for in the heartfelt lyrics of "Find My Way Back", a song of romantic regret that also expresses my feelings about turning down a trip that could have gotten me into better shape; "Changed By Love", which for me describes how my life has changed in the past couple of years; and "After The Fire Is Gone", a tale of love gone wrong which says in a few minutes why I place my fitness goals above the desire to go to my old school's Thanksgiving dinner. The closer, "Shatter The Silence", describes the horrors of child abuse, not just in the home but in some residential facilities as well. You should get this album if you can find it.

This is one FANTASTIC album/disc marking the return of Don Barnes to the band! A more 'mature' songwriting approach is evident here, making a very strong attempt at updating there sound. It may take a few spins to absorb this completely, but the rewards are great,as there is nary one bad cut on this release! How can you go wrong with Barnes' songwriting/vocal talents AND big credits to their old songwriting chum-one Jim Peterik (Survivor)? And check out Jim's latest 'Pride of Lions' disc...AWESOME!! Resolution came out in '97, and I know these guys are still out on the road. So...where's a new release? In the meantime-catch up with this great (final?) disc. Enjoy!

Resolution is an amazing comeback album that exudes all that 1980's passion and drama without all the glossy keyboards. I am so sad that the music industry ignored this near perfect collection of songs. Don Barnes returns as lead vocalist and is extraordinary in his interpretation of songs that bend the 38 tradition without breaking it. "Fade To Blue" apparently hit #33 on the mainstream rock chart in 1997. God help us. A song with that kind of urgency and get-up was once found only in bands like Loverboy and Tommy Tutone. Barnes delivers the goods with a dose of acoustic guitar and harmonica. This is a new 38 delivered without the extra gloss that subdued "Stength in Numbers". And it's much better than the band's attempt at fitting in to the grunge scene as on "Drive Train" which lacks the hooks. I also enjoyed "Find My Way Back" and the very Mellencamp-esque "After The Fire Is Gone". The passion is back. This could be the band's best purely musical foray. Download the tracks. You will hear greatness!

I can remember seeing .38 Special in concert with The Marshall Tucker Band and Joe Walsh right before this album was released (.38 Special and MTB were great, Joe wasn't so hot). At that time "Fade to Blue" was receiving pretty good airplay on a local station and after hearing a few other songs performed live, I decided to pick up this album. As is the usual case, the afformentioned "Fade" is one of the best songs on the album and there are some other really strong cuts in "Find My Way Back", "Shelter Me", "After the Fire Is Gone", and "Shatter the Silence". These are all fresh material, not really like the .38 Special of the 80's. However, there are a few weaker tunes in "Deja Voodoo", "Homeless Guitar", and the just bad "She Loves to Talk".

Don't expect great from start to finish as was the case with rock solid albums from the 80's including Tour De Force, but just realize that this is good and bad from a band that is now (in the studio anyway) a shadow of its former self.

I don't really know what to think of this album. - It's good, and it's bad. Don Barnes is back (where he belongs) after a million years in no-man's land, and that's good. -But Jeff Carlisi is gone, and that's bad. Carlisi was, and is I guess, simply the best guitarist on this planet. The songs are great as always, although I've detected something very strange: Don Barnes doesn't sound like Don Barnes all the time. What I'm talkin' about ?. -Well, a slight touch of what I label: "false rock'n'roll", or "indie voice", or whatever you might want to call it, creeps up here and there. The strained and faked hoarseness doesn't become anybody who uses it. Please lose this new-found habit, mr.Barnes; it's way below you. Thanks.

Always good to hear new music from one of the tightest southern rockers ever. They still tear it up live. This album has some good stuff and some not so good. The song fade to blue is good but glaringly misses Carlisi's soaring guitar. It's great to have Barnes voice 'back where it belongs' but until Carlisi rejoins the band- it will just be a shadow of itself.