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No love for 70's guitar bands?

When I was in high school it was the heyday of the pop guitar bands. Journey, Foreigner, Styx, Boston, REO Speedwagon, Loverboy, etc. These bands were immensely popular during the late 70s and early 80s and continue to tour (with scant remnants of the original bandz) but they don't seem to get any love here at Audiogon. They are almost never mentioned in the "what are you listening to threads" and you never see them mentioned in the "what is your reference CD/LP/file".

I think a lot of them did some decent work early in their careers and I think all of them eventually made big money on sappy sickening ballads that shortened their careers at least in terms of credibility.

I saw most of these bands live in the 80's and have the hearing loss to prove it. I loved them at the time. Rarely think of them now. The reason I thought of this is that I found a copy of Styx Cornerstone on vinyl in my meager collection of LPs. I think my wife won it in a contest. It is the album with "Babe" on it. I'm listening to it now.

It is terrible.

Thoughts on these bands in terms of relevance today? Relevance in their heyday?
n80
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Styx Equinox was on my platter recently. Anyone hearing this as a "wall of sound" needs to quit streaming and find a good turntable hooked up to a real stereo and open their ears. Equinox was mastered by the legendary Doug Sax at what is today known as The Mastering Lab but back then was listed on the jacket as simply Mastering Lab.

Not to mention, Suite Madame Blue. I long for the past and dream of the days with you. Come on!
hodu
316 posts
 
"The alternative was disco."
Not necessarily. In 1977, The Clash, The Jam, and Talking Heads all released their debut albums.
n80 OP
2,133 posts
 
@hodu : "Not necessarily."

In the medium sized southern city where i lived in 1977 there were no radio stations playing The Clash, Talking Heads or even Zeppelin. For one fairly short period of time we had no rock stations at all. All easy listening, soft rock, disco. Dark days indeed.

Fortunately we still had plenty of record stores, the lights in the darkness.
hifiman5's avatar
hifiman5
1,832 posts
 
How is it possible that Foreigner is not in the Rock Hall of Fame!  Look at the list of some of the artists/groups that ARE in the Hall.  Inexplicable!
n80 OP
2,133 posts
 
My ears rang for 12 solid days after the 1982 Foreigner concert. I counted them.

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