Great Rock Albums of 1985: Glenn Frey- The Allnighter
When I begin a new year of my trip through the golden decade of heavy metal, I always start with albums that were made in the previous year but didn’t come to my attention until the said year. Because there were so many great albums in 1984, I didn’t get around to listening to a good number until 1985. One of these was “The Allnighter” from the late former Eagles guitarist/singer, Glenn Frey.
Reflecting back to early 1985, I used to wonder if I was a little unfair to both Glenn and one of his former bandmates who also released a solo album in this year. First, I was very much into all things metal and “The Allnighter” is definitely not metal. Furthermore, I was very much into the last two Eagles albums, “Hotel California” and “The Long Run” which did feature some harder rock than their early 1970s albums.
Glenn goes further away from his Eagles roots with this album as it’s a more mellower and somewhat bluesier sound. There are some ballads on here like “Let’s Go Home” and “Lover’s Moon.” Glenn’s voice has always been suited to these but it is also versatile enough for the faster songs. “Sexy Girl” is kind of in the middle here and he does sing it well. I recently heard a live version of it and it sounds better than the commercial version. However, the best song and one that I’ve come to appreciate far more in my aging years is “Smuggler’s Blues.” This song is proof that Frey can sing harder stuff, not that I had any doubt he couldn’t. What has really impressed me about it is the musicianship. Like his previous album, Glenn uses a ton of musicians on it, so I don’t know who does the guitar solos on the song but they are ace. Full marks to whoever played them. The song did feature on the mid 1980s TV show “Miami Vice.”
Track Listing:
- The Allnighter
- Sexy Girl
- I Got Love
- Somebody Else
- Lover’s Moon
- Smuggler’s Blues
- Let’s Go Home
- Better in the USA
- Living In Darkness
- New Love
Glenn Frey- lead vocals, guitar, bass, drums, piano, synthesizer
Josh Leo, Duncan Cameron- guitar
John ‘JR’ Robinson, Michael Huey, Larry Londin- drums
David Hood, Bryan Garofalo- bass
Greg Smith, Willie Bergman, Al Garth- saxophone
Vince Melamed, Allen Blazek, Barry Beckett- piano
Barry Beckett, David ‘Hawk’ Wollinski- synthesizer
Nick DeCaro- strings
Steve Foreman- percussion
Victor Feldman, Jack Tempchin, Oren Waters, Jack Galloway, Luke Waters- backing vocals
I might have mellowed a bit with age and while I like some of what’s on “The Allnighter,” it really isn’t my cup of tea. There are some good songs on it and it’s a great album to mellow out to or provide suitable background settings but I won’t put away my metal albums in favour of it.
Next post: I know I said at the beginning of the post that I’ll be starting with albums that came out originally in 1984 but I have to make an exception. Download is this weekend and I need the correct inspiration.
Kreator- Endless Pain
To download “Rock And Roll Children” for free, go to: https://maxreading.cf/olddocs/free-download-online-rock-and-roll-children-pdf-1609763556-by-michael-d-lefevre.html
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This entry was posted on June 4, 2018 at 10:47 pm and is filed under 1980s, Music, Rock, Uncategorized with tags Americans, Blues, Classic Rock, Glenn Frey, hard rock, Heavy Metal, Heavy Rock, Hotel California, Mellow out rock, soft rock, The 1970s, The 1980s, The Allnighter, The Eagles, The Long Run. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
10 Responses to “Great Rock Albums of 1985: Glenn Frey- The Allnighter”
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June 4, 2018 at 11:16 pm
From Glenn Fry to Kreator. Awesome.
Love the Smugglers Blues song.
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June 5, 2018 at 2:25 pm
It highlights my very contradictory life, lol. “Smuggler’s Blues” is Glenn’s best solo song.
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June 5, 2018 at 12:30 am
I like lots of mellow stuff, but I don’t really like Frey’s solo stuff. Just feels like an artist who doesn’t have anything to say.
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June 5, 2018 at 2:26 pm
Very interesting point. I was tempted to rail on the track “Better in the USA” because it was just patriotic tripe.
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June 5, 2018 at 10:39 pm
I’ve only heard a compilation – I haven’t dared to go any further. He has a good ear for a tune, but that’s about the only redeeming feature of his solo career for me.
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June 6, 2018 at 7:16 pm
I think you hit the nail on the head.
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June 5, 2018 at 12:59 am
[…] Source: Great Rock Albums of 1985: Glenn Frey- The Allnighter | 80smetalman’s Blog […]
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June 5, 2018 at 2:26 pm
As always, I’m honoured.
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June 5, 2018 at 10:47 pm
Gone too soon.
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June 6, 2018 at 7:17 pm
Definitely!
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