Customer Reviews

Rock of Life

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was a heavy metal child of the late 70's and early 80's. Back in high school our crowd laughed at anyone who listed to a soap opera singer like Rick Springfield. Then one day in 1989, I was browsing the cd racks at a new locally owned music store. The guy behind the counter was playing Rock of Life on the music store loudspeakers. I didn't know who it was, but I stayed and browsed though the entire cd. When it was over, I went over to the record store employee and asked him who that was he was just playing? I made some kind of statement about it not really mattering because it was so good, I was buying a copy regardless of who the artist was. The guy handed me a copy of Rick Springfield's Rock of Life. I just about passed out. I could not believe it, but here I was about to buy Rick Springfield CD. I did and I still listen to it today. It is fantastic. If you are a rock and roll fan, this one should be in your collection. I also highly recommend S/A/D/A Rick's 2004 release. It is just as good as Rock of Life and it rocks a lot harder.

"Honeymoon in Beirut" is one of the best songs I have ever heard, of any genre.

It's just a haunting song; beautiful, sad, touching and sung by a master pop singer.

You have to give it to Rick, he had great songs on his records and they stand the test of time.

I will guarantee you if you turn someone on to the single "Honeymoon......" they will thank you for introducing you to such great music.

The rest of the album pales alongside Honeymoon, but goodness gracious what a great song.

It seems that when you say the name Rick Springfield, everyone thinks of the song Jessie's Girl. Well, there was a Rick Springfield way before that single and way after it. It's too bad that they only felt that the title track was worthy of being a single. This disc is true RS rock. And to make a correction to the other review of this CD. The disc is out of stock, not out of print. There is a big difference. But if you do want this CD, you'll have to check around in your local CD stores or, dare I say it, the cut out bins. And as a personal request. It sure would be nice to one day see the albums 'Beginnings 1972, Comic Book Heroes 1973, and 'Wait For Night 1976 released on CD. Maybe as a three disc set? Hey Rhino records you guys listening?

Ok, please over look all the POP that Rick has put out! This IS his best album. I just do not understand why, this cd is out of print? It's wonderful!
If you dont have this cd , if you can find it for a good price get it!

I bought this on cassette tape in early 1988 (my senior high school year) and it absolutely blew me away. I had been a fan of Rick's through the 1980's anyway so I probably would have bought it regardless. But it honestly blew me away. It was better and more complete than anything he had done prior to that.

The cassette tape wore out from being constantly played in my car and walkman all day long and I went out and purchased the LP record and, when it came out, the CD (both of which I still have now).

My favourite song on this album is definitely "World Start Turning". And the rest of it is just fantastic. Like a lot of other reviewers of this album, I am surprised that it didn't generate more excitement in the Rock / Pop industry and success for Rick at the time.

For me this is one of those albums that always takes me back to a time and place in my life that was full of such great times and memories.

I must say, I have been waiting forever for this to be released again, since I originally purchased it on Cassette tape, and wore it out playing it over and over. I had several of Rick's CD's in the eighties, and TAO, is my second favorite to this one, Rock of life is a major accomplishment in music and staying power IMO from one of musics under appreciated talents. I always felt his music was ahead of its time, and interestingly enough, today, its as good now as it was then. Funny how that works out. In any case, not a bad song in the set, lots of hooks to keep you coming back for more and more. I just purchased the download today, shocked frankly that it was actually available, because I kept looking online, hopeing, one day that someone would wake up and re-release this masterpiece from Rick....today, that day came. I recommend you pick up this while you can, before somebody changes their minds again.... :-) you won't be disappointed. Enjoy!

I still like this album! Very consistent and the writing is better! It has a bigger rock sound than the mid '80s albums he did and rivals Jessie's Girl and I've Done Everything from the first two albums. I still love the title song, Rock of Life and its reggae meets full blown rock sound! Rick Springfield could have continued the momentum with this album, but it just did not create a lot of buzz. Very challenging rock that he made!

All I can say about this album is that is suprisingly amazing! Soap Opera Stars are not supposed to be good singers... and Rick Springfield generally is not - this album, however, is the exception. I originally purchased this in 1988 in it's Vinyl LP format and I wore out the record! To this day I cannot figure out why this album did not make a bigger splash in the pop scene considering it has all the right ingredients - asside from a stellar promotional campaign perhaps. If you are a die hard Rick Springfield fan - this is different than anything he had made up to then and in my opinion it's better. I strongly recomend this. If you spent the 80's listening to Van Halen, Journey, Toto, Boston, Chicago, The Police, The Eagles - you will LOVE this CD!

Rick Springfield is one of the most prolific artists from the 1980's. What people don't understand is that Jessie's Girl is amongst the worst of his songs. It's pure bubblegum. Rock of Life is one of Rick's best 3 albums, along with Tao and Hard To Hold. This album should be reprinted and put back into circulation again. I hear the refrains of Rock of Life and I can feel the power and sorrow Rick was feeling at the thought that his father would not see his grandchildren. If you can find this CD for a good price, get it!

When I first heard Rick, I was young. Jessy's Girl was catchy and a big hit at the time, as the years went on, I kinda thought he was just another one of those pretty boys my sisters only liked cause he was cute, and sadly everyone else they thought was "good" was simply good looking. So I tended to stay away from the "pretty ones" as it were, it wasn't until I found the Tao album lying around, yes a record and I was bored, and began to read all the lyrics. And, to put it simply, I was blown away. I actually felt sick that I hadn't listened to his older albums all the way through. I thought he was simply only as good as his radio hits. As were most pretty boys. So I started listening to all the albums, and then this one came out in 88 the year i was graduating H.S. And, well it really did top everything that had came before, as I got older and started trading in my cassettes to replace them with cds, I found this one was almost impossible to find. I had to search everywhere, then I found amazon and well that's how I got it, it wasn't real cheap either. But you know what it was worth it. I no longer had the cassette as my sister had "borrowed it" and as most of you who have family members who borrow stuff you probably know I never got it back. Anyway to make a long story short, or at least shorter, I then started searching his back catalog as in searching for this album I found out he had albums in the 70s so he was actually a serious rocker before the pop hit that made him a big star (Jessy's Girl) and of course his run on general hospital. I do admit that honeymoon in beirut is a great song, as another reviewer stated. However I did not realise this until I went searching for the cd, as it was then that that song was playing in my head, as if it had stayed with me all that time. Rick is definitely an underrated artist/musician/singer/songwriter. My advice would be to buy all that you can of this artist because there is way more to his talent than just being cute.