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Eddie & the Hot Rods' much-anticipated second album appeared in fall 1977, on the heels of the band's biggest hit single yet, the gloriously anthemic "Do Anything You Wanna Do." Like that attraction, Life on the Line revealed a considerably more mature musical outlook than did its predecessor, the fury-whipped Teenage Depression -- aware that there was no point in pursuing their original whiplash R&B-soaked visions in the face of the ever-accelerating hordes of punk, the Hot Rods swerved into a hard-hitting prototype of what would later become power pop, awash with guitars and riffs, but clinging to some genuinely memorable melodies, too. Of course, the band did not wholly eschew their past -- excuse the young Steve Lillywhite's sparkling production, and both the Pistols-guitar powered "Quit This Town" and the premonitory closer, "Beginning of the End" would readily have fit into Teenage Depression. Flip the coin, however, and the instrumental "We Sing...The Cross" reached far beyond any musical pastures the band had hitherto grazed, toward the same extremes of tension and release that made the early Television such a dynamic experience. The end result was an album that still screams "classic" today -- hard to believe, indeed, that prior to its release, it was difficult to imagine the band ever equalling the triumphant punch of the hit. Nine bonus tracks wrap up the reissue, albeit with considerably less illumination than those which complete the Teenage Depression reissue. The best is the B-side "Distortion May Be Expected," which wanders around similar territory to "We Sing...The Cross," with added jungle, crowd, and, oddly, dub effects, while three live tracks do include a magnificent reading of "Do Anything You Wanna Do." Elsewhere, "Till The Night Is Gone" and "Flipside Rock" fascinate via the presence of MC5 frontman Rob Tyner, in London to check out the punk scene, and winding up with the one band that really didn't wear his old band's name on their sleeve. Musically, the ensuing single was a disappointment, but the possibilities still intrigue.
© Dave Thompson /TiVo
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Paul Gray, Producer, Bass Guitar, Assistant Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Barrie Masters, Producer, Assistant Producer, Vocals, Clapping, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Dave Higgs, Producer, Guitar, Assistant Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Ed Hollis, Producer, Mixer, Clapping, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel, ComposerLyricist - Steve Nicol, Producer, Mixer, Drums, Percussion, Assistant Producer, Clapping, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Eddie & The Hot Rods, MainArtist - Steve Lillywhite, Producer, Assistant Producer, Recording Engineer, Clapping, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Graeme Douglas, Producer, Guitar, Assistant Producer, Clapping, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Graeme John Douglas, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1977 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
Paul Gray, Producer, Bass Guitar, Assistant Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Barrie Masters, Producer, Assistant Producer, Vocals, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Dave Higgs, Producer, Guitar, Assistant Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Ed Hollis, Producer, Mixer, StudioPersonnel, ComposerLyricist - Steve Nicol, Producer, Mixer, Drums, Assistant Producer, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Eddie & The Hot Rods, MainArtist - Steve Lillywhite, Producer, Assistant Producer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Douglas, ComposerLyricist - Graeme Douglas, Producer, Guitar, Assistant Producer, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1977 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
Paul Gray, Producer, Bass Guitar, Assistant Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Gray, ComposerLyricist - Barrie Masters, Producer, Assistant Producer, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Dave Higgs, Producer, Guitar, Assistant Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Ed Hollis, Producer, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Steve Nicol, Producer, Mixer, Drums, Assistant Producer, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Eddie & The Hot Rods, MainArtist - Steve Lillywhite, Producer, Assistant Producer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Graeme Douglas, Producer, Guitar, Assistant Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Masters, ComposerLyricist - Nicol, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1977 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
Paul Gray, Producer, Bass Guitar, Assistant Producer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Barrie Masters, Producer, Assistant Producer, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Dave Higgs, Producer, Guitar, Assistant Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Ed Hollis, Producer, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Steve Nicol, Producer, Mixer, Drums, Assistant Producer, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Eddie & The Hot Rods, MainArtist - Steve Lillywhite, Producer, Assistant Producer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Graeme Douglas, Producer, Guitar, Assistant Producer, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1977 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
Paul Gray, Producer, Bass Guitar, Assistant Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Barrie Masters, Producer, Assistant Producer, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Dave Higgs, Producer, Guitar, Assistant Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Ed Hollis, Producer, Mixer, StudioPersonnel, ComposerLyricist - Steve Nicol, Producer, Mixer, Drums, Assistant Producer, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Eddie & The Hot Rods, MainArtist - Steve Lillywhite, Producer, Assistant Producer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Graeme Douglas, Producer, Guitar, Assistant Producer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1977 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
Paul Gray, Producer, Bass Guitar, Assistant Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Gray, ComposerLyricist - Barrie Masters, Producer, Assistant Producer, Vocals, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Dave Higgs, Producer, Guitar, Assistant Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Ed Hollis, Producer, Mixer, StudioPersonnel, ComposerLyricist - Steve Nicol, Producer, Mixer, Drums, Assistant Producer, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Eddie & The Hot Rods, MainArtist - Steve Lillywhite, Producer, Assistant Producer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Douglas, ComposerLyricist - Graeme Douglas, Producer, Guitar, Assistant Producer, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1977 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
Paul Gray, Producer, Bass Guitar, Assistant Producer, Clapping, AssociatedPerformer - Barrie Masters, Producer, Assistant Producer, Vocals, Clapping, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Dave Higgs, Producer, Guitar, Assistant Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Ed Hollis, Producer, Mixer, StudioPersonnel, ComposerLyricist - Steve Nicol, Producer, Mixer, Assistant Producer, StudioPersonnel - Eddie & The Hot Rods, MainArtist - Steve Lillywhite, Producer, Assistant Producer, Recording Engineer, Clapping, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Graeme Douglas, Producer, Guitar, Organ, Assistant Producer, AssociatedPerformer, 12-String Acoustic Guitar
℗ 1977 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
Paul Gray, Producer, Bass Guitar, Assistant Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Gray, ComposerLyricist - Barrie Masters, Producer, Assistant Producer, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Dave Higgs, Producer, Guitar, Assistant Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Ed Hollis, Producer, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Steve Nicol, Producer, Mixer, Drums, Assistant Producer, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Eddie & The Hot Rods, MainArtist - Steve Lillywhite, Producer, Assistant Producer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Douglas, ComposerLyricist - Graeme Douglas, Producer, Guitar, Assistant Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Nicol, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1977 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
Paul Gray, Producer, Bass Guitar, Assistant Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Barrie Masters, Producer, Assistant Producer, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - Dave Higgs, Producer, Guitar, Assistant Producer, Mellotron, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Ed Hollis, Producer, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Steve Nicol, Producer, Mixer, Drums, Assistant Producer, AssociatedPerformer, StudioPersonnel - Eddie & The Hot Rods, MainArtist - Steve Lillywhite, Producer, Assistant Producer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Graeme Douglas, Producer, Guitar, Assistant Producer, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1977 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
Album review
Eddie & the Hot Rods' much-anticipated second album appeared in fall 1977, on the heels of the band's biggest hit single yet, the gloriously anthemic "Do Anything You Wanna Do." Like that attraction, Life on the Line revealed a considerably more mature musical outlook than did its predecessor, the fury-whipped Teenage Depression -- aware that there was no point in pursuing their original whiplash R&B-soaked visions in the face of the ever-accelerating hordes of punk, the Hot Rods swerved into a hard-hitting prototype of what would later become power pop, awash with guitars and riffs, but clinging to some genuinely memorable melodies, too. Of course, the band did not wholly eschew their past -- excuse the young Steve Lillywhite's sparkling production, and both the Pistols-guitar powered "Quit This Town" and the premonitory closer, "Beginning of the End" would readily have fit into Teenage Depression. Flip the coin, however, and the instrumental "We Sing...The Cross" reached far beyond any musical pastures the band had hitherto grazed, toward the same extremes of tension and release that made the early Television such a dynamic experience. The end result was an album that still screams "classic" today -- hard to believe, indeed, that prior to its release, it was difficult to imagine the band ever equalling the triumphant punch of the hit. Nine bonus tracks wrap up the reissue, albeit with considerably less illumination than those which complete the Teenage Depression reissue. The best is the B-side "Distortion May Be Expected," which wanders around similar territory to "We Sing...The Cross," with added jungle, crowd, and, oddly, dub effects, while three live tracks do include a magnificent reading of "Do Anything You Wanna Do." Elsewhere, "Till The Night Is Gone" and "Flipside Rock" fascinate via the presence of MC5 frontman Rob Tyner, in London to check out the punk scene, and winding up with the one band that really didn't wear his old band's name on their sleeve. Musically, the ensuing single was a disappointment, but the possibilities still intrigue.
© Dave Thompson /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 9 track(s)
- Total length: 00:34:50
- Main artists: Eddie & The Hot Rods
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Universal-Island Records Ltd.
- Genre: Pop/Rock Rock Punk / New Wave
© 2008 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited ℗ 1977 Universal Island Records Ltd. A Universal Music Company.
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