875 Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Not Fragile (1974)

 875 Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Not Fragile (1974)


Studio Album - Heavy Rock




About the Act:

Bachman Turner Overdrive are a heavy rock band from Canada. They are named after two of their founding members, Mr. Bachman and Mr. Turner. Nobody in the band was called Overdrive.

They had some success. They started in the early 70s and in 2005 had a short break to catch their breath before going on for a while longer. The most people in the UK know about them is their hit "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet".


About the Album:

Apparently it was called "Not Fragile" in response to the Yes album that was called "Fragile". It was their best-selling and therefore their most successful album.


My History with this Album:

None, although I have heard "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" like a gazillion times.


Review:

Apparently, You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet was a leftover track which was included on the album because it was more radio-friendly than the others. It is true that it is more radio-friendly than the other tracks, but I also feel like I hope that there was some opposition to that idea. It's not that I dislike it as a song, but it's just that it doesn't fit that well with the rest of the album. The rest of the album varies between heavy metal and heavy rock, kind of in the Kiss area, sometimes the Led Zeppelin area (although not as inventive) and definitely in the Creedence Clearwater Revival area at times. It rocks along nicely and doesn't suffer from the same lyrical problems of Kiss (at least of the albums I have reviewed). It's musically straightforward, and nicely driving at times. They may be a little too studio-effect happy with especially the echo, but it's not too bad. The lyrics are not objectionable, but neither are they particularly inspired. It's OK, it's well-executed and it's a few shades more interesting than beige. 

The problem, really, in my mind, is that in the UK at the time there were a whole bunch of bands who were better than this. Maybe there were in North America too, but - well of course there was Rush. 

So, yeah, it's OK, it's not bad, it's good even, just not great.


6.5/10


Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/3TtCMt4XLddj9PQeVBfsK1

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJTAVb1bdOBgCQr3yqX37Zd6WXNsa7dS4

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_Fragile



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