Classic Canadian Rock
D. Bowles | Planet Earth | 11/21/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Following the release of `Forever, For Now', April Wine fans were wondering in just what direction Myles and the boys would jerk them with the next album. Never fear, the band returned with the rock'n'roll classic `First Glance', their "hardest" album since `Electric Jewels', and had one more surprise - a fifth member. Brian Greenway, an accomplished guitarist, harmonica player, singer, and songwriter in his own right, was thrown into the mix (pardon the pun) about halfway through the making of the album. The addition of Greenway meant a few of things - first, and most importantly, it allowed Myles to play keyboards during live shows while still retaining a thick two-guitar sound (or even better an immensely fat sound when Myles picked up his own Les Paul). Second, it allowed the band to record songs they could actually reproduce on stage. Third, it added another voice for background, and occasionally lead vocals. And to top it off, Greenway even added a few songs of his own on later albums.
Goodwyn's decision that this was going to be a purely rock album is evident from the opening guitar riffs. Curiously, the vinyl version (which I bought the day it was released in 1978) opens with "Hot On The Wheels Of Love" rather than "Get Ready For Love", which opens the CD version I purchased in later years. After years of listening to the vinyl version, I could never get used to starting the CD with "Get Ready...". I always thought that "Hot On..." was a great opening track. The third track is "Rock'n'Roll Is a Vicious Game" which was one of the first two singles from the album (the other being "Let Yourself Go", which didn't go anywhere). The first single was well-received in Canada, but not in the US, and the dismal showing of the second single contibuted greatly to the fact that the album quickly began slipping from the charts. Ironically, the centre-point of the album, which is, of course, "Roller" was never considered for release as a single until an FM in Michigan began playing it. The song's popularity skyrocketed, and "Roller" went on to be the second-biggest single in April Wine's history, remaining in the Billboard Top 30 for 11 weeks. The strength of "Roller" propelled the album to gold status in the US, another first for the band, and the album itself remained in the Billboard album charts for several weeks.
While April Wine has always been great in concert (I know, because I've seen them in every venue from a bar to a stadium), it was the heavier guitar-oriented `First Glance' and the subsequent three records that pushed April Wine into the forefront as one of the truly great arena guitar-rock bands of the late 70's and early 80's."
A snap shot in time.....
Slowstudy | Idaho | 03/25/2006
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Brining back memories of a fire bird, warm Busch Beer and Jensen 6X9's. If you can't attribute memories like that to this album then it really isn't that great. Like most music from the late 70's to late 80's: if you didn't grow up during those times the music isn't so great nor meaningful. I love this album along with Nature, Harder Faster and Power Play."
A Great Re-introduction to USA fans.
Somewhere in Texas | Planet Texas | 01/19/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"To most American hard rock fans, "First Glace" was April Wine's first album..and some USA fans still think it is. However the band had been together since the late 60's and some of their earlier Aquarius albums were released in the USA on Big Tree and London records. Despite "You Could Have Been A Lady" getting into the USA Top 40 in 1972, neither record company promoted their albums, even with many tracks that could have been huge AOR or Top 40 hits. (A lot of great Canadian bands like Trooper and Prism never got the promtion and breaks in the USA that they really deserved) Had they been on a record company that cared about them like Mercury did and toured the USA relentlessly, April Wine might have been as successful here in the mid 70's as BTO and Rush were.
Finally in 1978 April Wine hooked up with Capitol, which released "First Glance" here. The American version is a little different... It starts with "Get Ready For Love" instead of "Hot on the wheels of Love", and the cover uses the same band photograph and a simular cover design based on the Aquarius "Greatest Hits" album. Since hardly anyone in the USA knew what the band looked like, this was probably a smart idea. Capitol (after a few bum singles) gave the band a deserved USA Top 40 hit with "Roller" and the album went gold. This breakthrough album lead the way for the success of the "Harder...Faster" LP and especially the platinum selling "Nature of the Beast" LP.
I got a chance to see April Wine at Dallas (now sadly demolished) Bronco Bowl in 2000. The band put on a fine performance that night. Several members of the Dallas Stars hockey team showed up and a couple of members of Pantera were hanging out. A buddy who was there told me Dimebag (RIP) was greatly impressed with the Wine's tight version of "21st Century Schizoid Man".
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Track Listings (9) - Disc #1