Search - Moxy :: Moxy

UhaddaBthere....

John McKinna | Key Largo, Florida United States | 11/27/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I happened to pass by a reference to this old mid-70s bar-rock record and thought I'd add my penny's worth: the title of this review sums it up--you had to be there. Moxy was a regional Canadian band that shared time and space with (take a deep breath; here come some obscure names for non-Torontonians) Max Webster, Cinema Face, Lighthouse, James Leroy, Wireless, Goddo, Trooper, and early Triumph/early-to-mid-career Rush/and late-incarnation Guess Who. I was attending University of Toronto when this record came out, and burning the candle at both ends studying reasonably hard and playing in rock bands in the Jarvis and Church street club scene (also on Spadina and occasionally on Yonge). Moxy was one of a slew of hard-rock/pop bands in Toronto that were trying to duplicate the success of the James Gang, early Styx, etc. This record is now largely remembered for featuring Tommy Bolin on fill-in guitar. Seeing these guys at a club called the Gasworks (now long gone) on Yonge Street was a good time: they put on a great show with a lot of 70s rock energy. I give them full credit for effort. However, I have to say that the material on this album, while toe-tapping and very typical of the era, is rather middling in quality. Moxy was a good bar-band in search of one great song, and they never got it--on this album or any other. The songs are adequate, but not exceptional or even terribly melodic. This, unfortunately, was the kiss of mediocrity and limited success for many bands of this type...they never really achieved any national success in Canada, or, more importantly, cross-border chart success in the USA. If I had to give readers a comparison of what to expect visa-vi this album, I'd say it's much like Head East without the hooks, or James Gang without Joe Walsh and "sans funk". If you like the three-chord hard-rock/bar-rock material of the 70s that was churned out all over the US and Canada by regional bands in search of the brass ring, by all means try Moxy...but like most of this product, the music thumps along earnestly, but wears thin pretty quickly and ultimately is rather uninspiring. No offense to the Moxy guys, who I knew in passing, musician to musician, back in the day, but that's my honest opinion."