Great Rock Albums of 1983: Greg Kihn Band- Kihnspiracy
1983 was the most commercially successful year for the Greg Kihn Band. They’re best known hit “Jeopardy” went to number two in the singles charts and only “Beat It” by Michael Jackson kept it off the top spot. Maybe they should have gotten Eddie Van Halen to play a guitar solo on that song.
“Jeopardy” opens the 1983 album, “Kihnspiracy” and once the single is done and dusted, that’s when the album really kicks into gear. The very next track, “Fascination” begins with a great luring guitar intro and it is a rocker that really shapes the rest of the album. Likewise with the next track, “Tear Down the City” but only this begins with some cool lead guitar licks. Things go down a similar vein with the next couple of tracks. “You Can’t Love Them All” is a very amusing track and the guitar solos on it are first rate.
Having this on cassette, I can say that side two does eventually slow down. “I Fall to Pieces” isn’t as fast as any of the songs on side one, barring the big single but the hard guitars are strongly felt nonetheless. “Someday” is the song where keyboards are heard the most but it is still a rock song. Lead guitarist, Greg Douglass, who joined the band on the album shows he knows a little about how to play a guitar. “Curious” is the hardest song on the second side and then the album goes out with two slightly more softer songs, although “How Long” does have a cool, almost acoustic intro. Listening to the album after so many years, I think some of these songs would sound really cool if covered by a metal bands. A surprisingly good forgotten album.
Track Listing:
- Jeopardy
- Fascination
- Tear Down the City
- Talking to Myself
- You Can’t Love Them All
- I Fall to Pieces
- Someday
- Curious
- How Long
- Love Never Fails
Greg Kihn Band
Greg Kihn- lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Greg Douglass- lead/slide guitars, vocals
Larry Lynch- drums, vocals
Steve Wright- bass, vocals
Gary Phillips- keyboards
The tragic thing about the Greg Kihn band is that when people think of them and remember 1983, they will always be associated with their biggest single and not for the hard rocking album that “Kihnspiracy” is. That is a tragedy.
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80smetalman's Blog 
February 28, 2016 at 10:33 pm
I’ve never heard of them – I reckon you’ve just made them up to see how many of us you could take in.
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February 29, 2016 at 9:41 am
Trust me, I didn’t. They were considered to be one hit wonders by so called mainstream people in the USA because not everyone heard “The Break Up Song” from the “Rockihnroll” album and never got attention in the UK. In fact, I will put them second to Billy Squier as the best US act not to have cracked Britain.
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February 29, 2016 at 12:20 am
I must admit that I love that not-on-this-album single. I’d really like to hear this album covered by a metal band. A most inspired idea 🙂
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February 29, 2016 at 9:42 am
Thank you. Most of the songs on here would work. While I find “Jeopardy” an ok song, my favourite Greg Kihn Band song is “The Break up Song.”
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February 29, 2016 at 5:37 am
Greg Kihn had a morning drive time radio show here in SF. For reasons only they know Kihn was sacked unceremoniously, which was a shame because it was a great show. He’s become a novelist as well. Pretty cool dude.
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February 29, 2016 at 9:43 am
He sounds cool. I heard he was an author. Maybe I should go check out some of his stuff. Thanks for sharing that.
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February 29, 2016 at 9:58 am
Never heard of this lot or their big song, but I like that they called their album Kihnspiracy!
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February 29, 2016 at 5:52 pm
They use the ‘Kihn’ in most of their album titles. They are worth checking out.
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