Customer Reviews

Trial By Fire: Greatest & Latest

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Made in EU in 1999, Serial# 5216112, Playing Time 67:43

I had to wait 14 years for this new album; their previous was called "Live!Live!Live!", released back in 1986, and re-issued in 1990 as "The All Time Greatest Hits Live".

I'm a bit partial to BTO; I've seen hundreds of concerts (yes, I saw Led Zeppelin, so I'm that old!) but my first was by a Canadian band called BTO on their 1975 "Four Wheel Drive" tour at the Montreal Forum.

This new CD features 10 re-recorded tracks from the "old" BTO days, plus 5 new tracks. Are these guys great musicians? No. But their performance is un-pretentious, and that makes up for it: they know how to write catchy straight-ahead rock! The versions are different enough to make them interesting, and faithful enough to bring back great memories. The new stuff is good as well, and the sounds make you think they haven't taken a break.

If you like their first 4 albums, you'll definitely like this; if you don't own them, get them and this CD too. It's a shame, but I feel this album will hit the "delete bin" in the not-so-distant future.

With all due respect to Randy Bachman, this album shows clearly where the real heart and soul of BTO lies. C.F. Turner's vocals and bass are better than ever, and with Robin Bachman and Blair Thornton back on board, the band sounds as good as it has since Not Fragile. Newcomer Randy Murray is a terrific guitarist, and a perfect fit for BTO. (He also lends his vocal talents to classic songs originally sung by Randy Bachman.) 'Trial By Fire' includes five new cuts, and these alone are more than worth the price. It begins with a smoldering electric blues rendition of the classic 'House Of The Rising Sun' with an inspired vocal performance by Turner. The two new songs written entirely by the band members also stand out as hard rock gems. Check out Randy and Blair's guitar riffs on the title track! 'Nothin'Comes Easy' is a blues-rock ballad with a thunderous beat and heavy guitars reminiscent of 'Not Fragile' and 'Sledgehammer.' 'Testify', a high-octane love song, and the rollicking boogie number 'A Sense Of Danger' round out the new material. The remakes of old songs sound as good or better than the originals, probably in part due to modern recording techniques, which seem to bring out Turner's bass better. Many of these tracks offer new takes on the songs, some subtle, some not - how about a semi-accoustic version of 'Hold Back The Water'? - and are worth a listen even if you've heard the originals a thousand times. Though it may be destined to be heard only by true blue BTO fans like myself, 'Trial By Fire' easily ranks as some of the band's finest work. In fact, the only way this album could be better than it is would be to have even more new material, and possibly giving Randy Murray a shot at singing 'Takin' Care Of Business.'

....I waited a long time for a new BTO CD, and this one does not disappoint. The thing that surprised me the most was the excellent job done on the remaking of the older BTO hits - some of them, like "Hold Back The Water", "Let It Ride", and "Blue Collar" are better than the originals were.

Don't let that be the only reason for purchasing this, though. There are some excellent new songs on this CD, most notably "A Sense Of Danger." When I hear this one, it makes me want to get in my old pick-up with a sweet young thing and find the closest Juliette back road.....

All in all, this is an excellent effort, and it does make you seriously wonder why an American record company hasn't signed these guys. To hear Fred Turner render some new songs alone would entice many of us to continually purchase new BTO product - add Robin's drumming, and the excellent guitar work of Blair and Randy, and you have pure listening pleasure for your aural sensory devices.

The last BTO album (I'm dating myself here) I bought was "Head On" in 1978. That was a few years after its original release. This CD has been worth waiting for. It's too bad that Randy Bachman had to ruin the whole thing with his greed and ego. Trial by Fire proves that he's not needed or missed. Randy Murray does a more than adequate job.

If there is one knock, is that "Gimme Your Money Please" could sound more like the original on BTO I and could really stand to lose the organ/keyboard on the refrain and put back in Rob's drum solo at the end.

Guys, keep the music coming. I want more. Yes, I'm a middle age, fat, bald fart but I'm still a head banger.

I purchased this CD from "AMAZON" a few months back,I am very impressed with its content,the Re:recorded "HITS"and the "NEW" tracks are "OUTSTANDING".I consider myself a friend and of course one of the groups most "LOYAL"supporters!With the departure of RANDY BACHMAN IN 1992 to go it alone,the other three original "NOT FRAGILE"lineup:FRED TURNER,ROBIN BACHMAN&BLAIR THORNTON,added a guitarist by the name of RANDY MURRAY to fill RANDY BACHMANS departure.This lineup is the longest in tenure of any amalgamation in the groups history,I have seen this lineup perform multiple times in the MINNESOTA area,the sound and performance is something to behold!!I will do all I can to make the recording industry wake up and sign this group to a new recording contract!!To those of you out there reading this,order this CD from AMAZON.COM,you will love it!!To FRED,ROB,BLAIR&RANDY.M,"I THANK YOU FOR THE FEELIN"!!!

recorded in 1996 with vancouver musician randy murry replacing the departed,(again) randy bachman, this cd PROVES that bto can still out rock, out roll, and out class ANY BAND OUT THERE. four new tunes, and one new cover, this band shows that it has never lost it. the four new tunes, two of which were written by this band, prove, that like vintage wine, vintage rock goes down REAL SMOOTH "SENSE OF DANGER", is bto boogie, "NOTHIN' COMES EASY" (like this cd) is 3/4 time blues rock, ala trower, loud, nasty great guitar rock, with an extremely good solo. while stepping into a time machine, these songs are fresh, and could have been recorded in the 70's. TESTIFY, with it's "van bachman" beginning, shows you where the eddie van halens of the 80' came from. this tune could be testimony to the bands existance. TRAIL BY FIRE is another song that could have been recorded around 1976, but is so fresh, and enjoyable. this is a testimonial to their bto roots, and they further acknowledge their roots with a growling fred turner vocal on HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN. the new songs stand on their own merit, and are most enjoyable, and welcomed. the covers of the bto tunes, are covers ONLY BECAUSE THEY WERE DONE EARLIER. each song has a new, fresh,live 90's rock approach, different just enough to make them completely enjoyable, and alive.

how can all these supposed leaders of the industry american record company experts pass on the opportunity to release this domesticly is a wonder, but then again, if you know the bands history, you will know that 23 american companies passed on bto 1 in the seventies, and look at the result.....it proves only one thing.....what do they really know?

as they ROLL ON DOWN THE HIGHWAY, continuing to TESTIFY as to their TRAIL BY FIRE, they know of people who would love to say, GIMMIE YOUR MONEY PLEASE, but they continue to HOLD BACK THE WATER, hanging tough, and NOT FAGILE to those who would say stop, and TAKE IT LIKE A MAN, but they know that YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHIN' YET, for when they kick it into FOUR WHEEL DRIVE, that NOTHIN' COMES EASY, but no matter for they will TAKE IT LIKE A MAN, if they need to. they are going to HOLD BACK THE WATER, ever moving foward in FOUR WHEEL DRIVE, never giving into their SENSE OF DANGER in this continued HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN, delivering the best in BLUE COLLAR rock. and always saying, HEY YOU.....you ain't HEARD nothin' yet!

well worth the effort, and a FANTASTIC BARGAIN. even the casual bto fan will be happy, the true fanatic......ECSTACY!

one can only hope, that this isn't the last heard from this fine group of musicians, and that maybe we will get more new tunes, and some more great covers of older bto staples, and some obscure songs like IT'S OVER, HEATACHES, FREE WHEELIN, FREEWAYS, LIFE GOES ON, and maybe even a brave belt tune or two...TOO FAR AWAY, NEVER COMIN' HOME, are a couple that come to mind. along with the fantastic bto version of WOOLY BOOLY, and that obscure fred turner solo tune....WALK WITH YOU.

pick this up, while you can....sure to be a classic collectable.

BTO hasn't done much recording in recent years, so this collection from 1996 should be of interest to fans of the group. They do 5 new songs, including their version of "House of the Rising Sun", and 10 of their oldies. Most are faithful to the original versions, but it's nice to hear a few variations. "Hold Back the Water" is done acoustically on this CD, and "Blue Collar" has an extended solo by Randy Murray (you gotta see him do this one live - he has that guitar smokin'!). All of the new songs stay within the well defined BTO sound - best of the bunch IMHO are "Trial by Fire" and "Sense of Danger", spotlighting the great, gruff vocals of bassman C. F. Turner.

I bought this CD after seeing them in Concert recently, as they mentioned on stage this was the only place to locate this CD. House of the Rising Sun, alone is worth the purchase of the CD. Their music is tight as ever.

While the album is dominated by older tracks, the new ones are top-notch and deserve special mention - including possibly the best recording of "House of the Rising Sun." Fred Turner is in top form, while the "Randy Bachman replacement" doing his lines on the obligatory "you've only heard these recorded twelve times now" hits does pretty well. The old hits are just different enough to be interesting, but buy this album (a) for the new songs, (b) because it's cheap, and (c) so they'll do another!

The songs on this cd have been so slickly recorded that they retain none of the "live in the studio" gruffness of the original BTO. Most of the early BTO album songs were recorded, usually in one take, with the entire band playing in the studio together, not with each member playing to the recorded tracks of the others.This gave them a "live" quality not to be found on Trial by Fire.
The drum tracks on all but one song are way louder than the rest which makes me suspect Rob Bachman is still trying to compensate for his mediocrity. Also, the drumming is so slick as to have been done by a drum machine. No one makes any mistakes on the recordings and even Fred Turner's ad-libs sound rehearsed to death.
This type of recording can also be seen on BTO's "Street Action" album, the first without Randy Bachman at the helm. It too is polished to oblivion.
While most BTO-holics like myself will be purchase this album anyway, it will certainly not inspire a first timer to pursue the older BTO material. Fred Turner's voice is the only redeeming aspect of "Trial by Fire" and the only song on it with a glimmer of the old BTO is "Testify", which is crying out for Randy Bachman's guitar work.