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Blackfoot
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About the Artist
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Discography: Album
Discography: EP
Discography: Single
Filmography (Film & Television)
Personnel
Photos
Videography
Polar Blair's Thoughts on the Artist
About the
Artist: This is an interesting southern rock group to say the
least. They started out southern rock. Then they morphed
into hard southern rock, then into straight hard rock, and ultimately
1980s corporate rock before disbanding. It was led by Rick "The
Rattlesnake" Medlocke (Rickey Medlocke) before he became a permanent
member of Lynyrd Skynyrd in the 1990s.
Polar Blair's Thoughts on the Artist:
Personnel:
Discography: Album:
Vertical Smiles (1984)- This is disappointing. Not all the songs are bad. Actually, Side 1 is all good, and Side 2 is all bad. Funny how that worked. I loved Blackfoot when they were southern rock (Strikes-era). I also enjoyed them as a hard rock band verging on heavy metal (Marauder-era), but this 1980s-synthesizer bullcrap...what the hell were they doing? They were just trying to get too darn trendy. The band replaced rhythm guitarist Charlie Hargrett with keyboardist Ken Hensley (of English progressive-rock band Uriah Heep). Now I like Uriah Heep, and Ken Hensley, but this was a sad merger. And it kind of kills the idea that they're a southern rock band. And, just thinking out loud, if they wanted to bring their music "into the eighties" as I've heard and read in various articles, why are they including a musician from the 1960s-70s? They might have been better off just getting a younger guy in his twenties if they wanted to freshen up the band's sound. But synthesizer was the thing in the eighties, and they were just getting on the bandwagon.
Even the passable songs on Side 1 are not as good as anything on the "Strikes" or "Tomcattin'" or "Marauder" albums. It's worth a listen if you can find it, but don't spend top dollar because it ain't what you think when you think Blackfoot.
The rest of the band's line-up is the classic line-up: Jakson Spires on drums, and Greg T. Walker on bass.
The album title is cute, but kind of tacky. Showing pictures of girls' crotches on the front cover...not as subtle or cool as the series of wild animal covers before this. And it would almost suggest that this album was harder-rocking than it is. I think they should have named this album something else if they wanted to be wholly accepted by the mainstream, which is what they were going for.
Songs:
Discography: EP:
Discography: Single:
Filmography (Film & Television):
Photos:
Videography:
Polar Blair's Thoughts on the Artist:
Personnel:
Discography: Album:
Vertical Smiles (1984)- This is disappointing. Not all the songs are bad. Actually, Side 1 is all good, and Side 2 is all bad. Funny how that worked. I loved Blackfoot when they were southern rock (Strikes-era). I also enjoyed them as a hard rock band verging on heavy metal (Marauder-era), but this 1980s-synthesizer bullcrap...what the hell were they doing? They were just trying to get too darn trendy. The band replaced rhythm guitarist Charlie Hargrett with keyboardist Ken Hensley (of English progressive-rock band Uriah Heep). Now I like Uriah Heep, and Ken Hensley, but this was a sad merger. And it kind of kills the idea that they're a southern rock band. And, just thinking out loud, if they wanted to bring their music "into the eighties" as I've heard and read in various articles, why are they including a musician from the 1960s-70s? They might have been better off just getting a younger guy in his twenties if they wanted to freshen up the band's sound. But synthesizer was the thing in the eighties, and they were just getting on the bandwagon.
Even the passable songs on Side 1 are not as good as anything on the "Strikes" or "Tomcattin'" or "Marauder" albums. It's worth a listen if you can find it, but don't spend top dollar because it ain't what you think when you think Blackfoot.
The rest of the band's line-up is the classic line-up: Jakson Spires on drums, and Greg T. Walker on bass.
The album title is cute, but kind of tacky. Showing pictures of girls' crotches on the front cover...not as subtle or cool as the series of wild animal covers before this. And it would almost suggest that this album was harder-rocking than it is. I think they should have named this album something else if they wanted to be wholly accepted by the mainstream, which is what they were going for.
Songs:
- "Morning Dew"-- good.
- "Livin' in the
Limelight"-- good.
- "Ride With
You"-- good.
- "Get it on"-- good.
- "Young Girl"
- "Summer Days"
- "A Legend Never Dies"
- "Heartbeat and Heels"
- "In for the Kill"
Discography: EP:
Discography: Single:
Filmography (Film & Television):
Photos:
Videography: