Hard line

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Hard line
Studio album by The Blasters

Publication
(s)

1985

Label (s) Slash

Format (s)

CD, LP

Genre (s)

skirt

Title (number)

10

running time

35:55

occupation
  • Singing / guitar: Phil Alvin
  • Lead guitar: Dave Alvin
  • Bass: John Bazz
  • Drums: Bill Bateman


  • Piano: Gene Taylor

production

Jeff Eyrich

Studio (s)

Ocean Way Studios

chronology
Non-Fiction
(1983) 		Hard line Trouble Bound (live)
(2002)

Hard Line is the fifth album by the Californian rock band The Blasters around the brothers Phil and Dave Alvin . Hard Line was released in 1985 on the Slash label .

Music style and history

On their previous releases, the Blasters had stylistically strongly based on rockabilly , but despite good reviews from the specialist press, they had not succeeded in achieving commercial success with their music. With Hard Line , with the help of producer Jeff Eyrich , they wanted to strike a balancing act between traditional rock 'n' roll and alternative rock , which was successful at the time .

In order to achieve a more modern - and therefore more salable - sound, Bill Bateman's drums were mixed more into the foreground than before and Stan Lynch of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers partially replaced him on percussion . Dave Alvin's lead guitar was also emphasized more. The greatest concession to popular taste was the engagement of John Mellencamp , who was relatively successful at the time, as the author of the title Colored Lights . However, the band turned not entirely on their models: so looked at four titles the Jordan Aires , the long-time backing singer of Elvis Presley , with. With Samson and Delilah a gospel was also represented. With the help of David Hidalgo from the band Los Lobos , some of the pieces got a clear Tex-Mex influence . On Little Honey played Larry Taylor of Canned Heat the double bass .

Phil Alvin's lyrics are often dark and critical. In Dark Night is about lynching in a small town, Common Man is an "anti- Reagan -Song" and Just Another Sunday , which together with John Doe (John Nommensen Duchac) by the band X was, for example, tells of a failed love.

Track list

  1. Trouble Bound (Alvin) - 3:48
  2. Just Another Sunday (Alvin, Doe) - 4:15
  3. Hey Girl (Alvin) - 3:11
  4. Dark Night (Alvin) - 3:51
  5. Little Honey (Alvin) - 3:35
  6. Samson and Delilah ( Traditional ) - 3:47
  7. Colored Lights (John Mellencamp) - 3:27
  8. Help You Dream (Alvin) - 3:40
  9. Common Man (Alvin) - 3:43
  10. Rock & Roll Will Stand (Alvin) - 2:38

Reception and chart success

In February 1985, Hard Line reached number 86 on the Billboard 200 .

The Italian e-zine Viceversa tops the album in its list of the 100 most important rock albums of all time.

Through the album, the Blasters became known to a larger audience in Europe and they were subsequently invited to the Rockpalast Festival on the Loreley in the summer of 1985 .

Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez used the song Dark Night in their 1995 film From Dusk Till Dawn . As early as 1985, the song was used in the episode Dirty Hands of the Miami Vice series.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ billboard.com (accessed April 25, 2012)
  2. ↑ Viceversa - Rock100 ( accessed November 4, 2011)
  3. ↑ rockpalastarchiv.de ( accessed on April 25, 2012)

Web links