Customer Reviews

Strength in Numbers

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

 

 

This was also my first 38 Special CD (actually it was an album), and everytime I play it, it ends too soon. Not a bad cut on this CD. There may have been stronger individual songs on their earlier stuff, but there was a big drop off in effort after that one or two songs, where the rest of the CD was not up to the same quality. Don Barnes had a hand in writing seven of the ten cuts here, and he is usually involved in their better songs. Rarely does he write one alone, but even on Flashback (a greatest hits CD), he was involved in eight of the fourteen cuts there. Not trying to put down the others in the band, but I personally enjoy his stuff the most. The song "Like No Other Night" is my personal favorite, but from beginning to end if you are looking for 38 Special's best that is not on a Greatest Hits package, this is the one you want to start with. The only drawback to buying this one first is that you will never be as pleased with any of the others from beginning to end. I have all but their live CD, and have never regreted having any of them.

"Strength in Numbers" is the 1986 album release from Southern Arena rockers 38 Special. At the time, the band was at the peak of a winning streak crafting albums of upbeat melodic pop-rock with a slight Country tinge. This album is no exception. It's a fantastic album from beginning to finish and displays the band's tight musicality and hook-filled songwriting at its best.
Guitarist Don Barnes is mostly up front on lead vocals here while main lead singer Donnie Van Zant takes a step back from the microphone until the very end of the album bringing it to a dynamic finish on its final two tracks.
Tracks such as the hits "Somebody Like You" and "Like No Other Night" were all over the airwaves when this album was released. Other standouts such as "Last Time", "Just A Little Love", "Hearts On Fire" and "Against The Night" are impossible to dislike and contain enough hooks to have you humming in no time. The slower tracks ("Once In A Lifetime" and "Has There Ever Been A Good Goodbye") are equally enjoyable and shows the band tackling ballads as effortless as their trademark rock numbers.
With all this said, "Strength In Numbers" is a great album and a wonderful trip down memory lane. The album also marked the end of an era for 38 Special. Two years later, the band regrouped with a new line-up without guitarist/singer Don Barnes. Barnes did return to the band a decade later bringing back its signature sound.
If you can find a copy of "Strength In Numbers" (as I was fortunate enough to find), pick it up. It's worth it.

This, the last album to feature Don Barnes on lead-vocals before he left, is filled with great songs. The sound is poppier than ever before... and then again it's not. It's really only on the first hearing; then you realize there's plenty of hard hitting guitar-work. The band (or producer Keith Olsen) seem to have decided that Barnes' voice is better suited for these songs, than co-lead-singer Donnie Van Zant; and thus Barnes is now given the bulk of songs. And he is indeed one of the best in the trade. (-I've always loved the way he sometimes starts a line way deep.) My favorite album of theirs has always been "Tour De force", but this one comes very close. Too bad he left the band when he did; things were never to be the same again.

this is the best album ever released by .38 Special, no fillers but ten great tracks of southern hard-rock with a touch of AOR. Don Barnes is a great songwriter and singer. Good solid production job from Mr. Keith Olsen.

This is a very decent album. I am not a huge fan, but this album and Special Forces are true classic rock albums. There is not a bad track on this CD. And some of these are some really good rockers!!!

Unfortunately, this was the last good album .38 Special made.

This 1986 release would be the last album in the 80's for 38 Special with vocalist/guitarist Don Barnes (and also drummer Steve Brookins). After recording the song "Back to Paradise" in 1987 for the soundtrack to the motion picture Revenge of the Nerds II, both would quit the group. Barnes would eventually return in the 90's for the Resolution album, but things would never be the same for this southern rock group. On Strength in Numbers the band would record what most would consider to be their most "pop" sounding album to date. And that's not necessarily bad. You can't blame the group for keeping with the times and let's face it, everyone was doing it. Huey Lewis with Fore!, Genesis with Invisible Touch, Foreigner with Agent Provacateur.....and the list goes on and on.

Stength in Numbers is polished more so than earlier 38 Special albums, but it still rocks. "Somebody Like You," "Heart's on Fire," & "Last Time" have an edge to them with a great driving backbone. The smash hit "Like No Other Night" and the semi-mellow tracks "Has There Ever Been a Good Goodbye" & "Once in a Lifetime" are also standout songs here. Make no mistake, this is 80's music at its best. These songs are your typical 80's pop/rock, sing-a-long tunes with great melodies and smokin' riffs.

All-in-all this is a great sounding album that takes their 5th album Tour de Force to the next logical level for that time period. It's too bad that things would never be the same for this southern rock band after this album. Combined with the Anthology collection you could "burn" and awesome party disc of your own.

This is the first 38 Special album I bought and my No.1 favorite 38 Special album ever! Every tracks are of superb quality. I like Like No Other Night, Last Time, Once In A Lifetime, Has There Ever Been A Good Goodbye, One In A Million. Apparently they are inspired by another pop rock masterpiece album Vital Signs by Survivor. No wonder. Because Survivor's main songwriter Jim Peterik collaborated with early 38 Special hits such as Caught Up In You.

One of my favorite bands of all time. I saw them the year that this album came out, and it was a great show. Have seen them many times since.

When you listen to this album and you start thinking, Wow, there is not one bad song on this entire disc, you know it is a five star album. This CD never lets up. None of the tunes are absolute killer (like Back to Paradise), which may explain why a lot are not in their greatest hits collections but they are ALL very good and will have you bouncing, bobbing and rocking your head to smooth guitar melodies and vocals.

After hearing this album, I went out and purchased several others thinking that I was missing out on stuff that wasn't showing up on their "Greatest Hits" albums. Unfortunately, I was disappointed because the other albums couldn't even come close to the depth of great songs on here. I love listening to this when I want to relax and yet have music that won't get me bored in the least.

If you like 38 special at all, this is definitely one to get and you can't go wrong with the ultra cheap prices.

Strength in Numbers is probably the commercial high point for 38 Special featuring the hits Somebody Like You and Like No Other Night. The latter was my first exposure to the band and I worked really hard to get hold of this album in Australia. The band never really charted here. The whole album is strong track for track. My personal favs apart from the singles are Has There Ever Been a Good Goodbye (smooth and harmonic) and the gritty closer Never Give An Inch. If anything, Stength In Numbers probably marks the beginning of the end of their best work. As the other reviews point out, the subsequent departure of Don Barnes from the lineup robbed the band of the smooth sound and catchy hooks that they had perfected on this and previous albums. If anything this album almost crosses from rock into 80s rock pop at times. Its predecessor Tour De Force (the first actual album I owned from this band) still had that southern flavour. The band's best work ends with this album but their biggest hit (Second Chance) was still some years away. By then they were a different band....