Customer Reviews

Wildside

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

 

 

Loverboy's fifth studio album, 1987's Wildside, gets the job done. The material is in a straightforward rock musical direction. There are 11 tracks; one of these--the closing piece "Don't Keep Me in the Dark"--is a ballad. Altogether, I find the songwriting to be satisfying, the musicianship to be tight, and the sound quality to be good. Mike Reno (one of my favorite vocalists) does not dissatisfy when it comes to the vocals--his singing is unique, diligent, and lively. Throughout, there is a nice combination of guitar and keyboard work from guitarist Paul Dean and keyboardist Doug Johnson. Scott Smith's bass guitar playing is also noticeable. Though I like every one of the tunes, my favorites are the opening cut "Notorious," "Break It to Me Gently," and "Don't Keep Me in the Dark." The vigorous "Notorious," co-written with Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, sports a memorable refrain. The spirited "Break It to Me Gently" displays an industrious, sprightly chorus and taut bass guitar work from Smith. The attractive "Don't Keep Me in the Dark" features serene keyboard playing from Johnson and a pretty-sounding guitar solo from Dean. The enjoyable "Hometown Hero"--co-written with Bryan Adams--contains a catchy keyboard melody from Johnson. The pleasing "Read My Lips" exhibits a gratifying intro. I also enjoy how Dean's guitar solo starts off menacingly. On the song's conclusion, I am impressed with the skillful, rapid-fire drumming from Matthew Frenette. The CD booklet includes the song lyrics and various illustrations; for example, there is a black-and-white photo of the band that is spread over two pages and a black-and-white photo of each of the guys. There is also a black-and-white illustration on the back of the CD jewel case. The disc is almost 49 minutes. I recommend this album.

Of all the Loverboy cds this is my favorite one. All of the songs rock. The best songs from this cd are "Love Will Rise Again" , "Notorious" , "Hometown Hero" & "Wildside" . Why it wasn't succesful as their earlier cds is a wonder. Loverboy was one of my favorite groups of the 80's. With the hits like "Turn Me Loose" , "Hot Girls In Love" , "Queen Of The Broken Hearts" & "Working For The Weekend" they had their place in 80's rock.

This CD is one to get. If you can get it! It is out of print, but keep checking the used CD stores and you will be pleasantly surprised. WILDSIDE was originally released in 1987 and the first single off the CD was "Notorious". The sound of the CD is definitely polished, but has that rough Paul Dean guitar sound to make it just rock. My favorite song on the whole CD is "Don't Let Go". It's extremely positive and shows the direction in which Loverboy was going musically at that time.

You will not be sorry for hunting this one down. I recommend it highly.

1987's Wildside was album number five from Canadian arena rockers Loverboy. They had some huge hits in the first half of the decade, but by 1987 the "Workin' For the Weekend" band seemed to be running out of steam. It didn't help that this kind of AOR was being replaced on radio and MTV by hair metal.

Wildside may not be viewed as a classic album the way Get Lucky or Lovin Every Minute of It are, but it's still a very good AOR/melodic rock album. Leadoff single "Notorious" (co-written by Jon Bon Jovi and Ritchie Sambora) is a really fun, upbeat rocker, and is one of Loverboy's best songs. "Break It To Me Gently," "Love Will Rise Again" and "Hometown Hero" (an assist from Bryan Adams on that one) are also good singles. Honestly, the whole album is pretty solid. It just seems a bit dated, even by 1987 standards, and didn't have the same energy those early Loverboy albums had.

It's not a must have album, but if you're a Loverboy fan looking to go beyond the typical "greatest hits" package, you really ought to check out Wildside. There are enough good songs on this one to please most Loverboy fans.

If there was ever a reason to be this cd it's for Don't Keep Me in the Dark. One of the most underrated power ballads of all time. Would have been a big hit if the label released it as a single.

I found a used copy of this out-of-print album, and it has grown on me. I find myself playing it in the car. "Notorious" is a great song, "Break it to me Gently", and "Hometown Hero" are very good songs, and all the others are fairly good. I should really give this 3 1/2 stars, since it isn't as good as their first 3 recordings, but they don't allow half stars.

I totally disagree w/brads review of this album...Specifically, the only song that Bon Jovi helped with is the NA NA song (notorious)...One cannot compare Loverboy w/Bon Jovi/Tesla...Loverboy is a much better band..Fans, they are still on tour, still together, and still kick ass!

One thing i can agree w/brad, is that this album indeed slipped through the cracks...Amazing! It is probably the hardest Loverboy album to date...It rocks. I remember watching this album roll off of the billboard charts back in 87 in absolute amazement!

This is my favorite loverboy album....My favorite songs on this album in order are: Love will rise again, Dont let go, break it to me gently, walkin on fire, and cant get much better...

Cheers! Eric :)

While I considered this band a notch below some of the hard rock and pop metal acts of the '80s (e.g., Tesla, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard), they were still a very enjoyable and fun band to listen to. While many bands of this type who had any commercial success had albums at least half full of ballads by a 5th album, Loverboy continued to rock on this effort. This album came out in 1987--a year in which a lot of great hard rock albums got released, so it kind of got lost in the shuffle.

For sure there are Bon Jovi influences here (even though Loverboy released their first album a good 3 or 4 years before Bon Jovi did). Jon Bon Jovi himself has backing vocals on the one at-all-known single off this album, the opening track "Notorious." For sure, that is a catchy and uptempo song that was a foreshadowing of things to come. "Love Will Rise Again", for which I believe there was a video for, also sounds a lot like Bon Jovi. Songs like "Walkin' On Fire", "Can't Get Much Better", and the title track all rock pretty heavily.

After an album of very few slow tracks, the very last track is one of the best unreleased rock ballads (i.e., not a single) I have ever heard. "Don't Keep Me In The Dark" is an emotional, beautiful power ballad with an unforgetable melody and powerful chorus. This song in my estimation should have been a huge it. I have not forgotten it after all these years, despite this band's popularity totally fading away with any future releases.

I was surprised to find this album actually available here on CD (I still have my old cassette), so I scooped it up recently. Surely worth the low price for some fun, enjoyable melodic hard rock from the '80s from a band that was once very much at the center of the rock music scene.

As much as I love Loverboy, "Wildside" is a uneven mess that was disliked by the band so much they didn't even tour behind it when it was released in 1987. I can still remember buying this the first day it was out and forcing my then-boyfriend to play the cassette in his car stereo ... and apologizing afterwards. "Notorious," co-written with Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, and "Break It To Me Gently" are okay. "Love Will Rise Again" is easily the album's best song, but the rest ranges from barely mediocre to just plain awful. I'm actually surprised that it's still in print. Download the songs I mentioned and leave this alone, it's not worth it.