Big Ones (©1989 Columbia)

1: Working For The Weekend 2: For You 3: The Kid Is Hot Tonite 4: Lovin' Every Minute Of It 5: Lucky Ones 6: Hot Girls In Love 7: This Could Be The Night 8: Ain't Looking For Love 9: Turn Me Loose 10: Notorious 11: When It's Over 12: Too Hot 13: Take Me To The Top 14: Heaven In Your Eyes

Dig out your red bandanas and stirrup pants, it’s time for a trip down mammary lane. I’ve been looking off and on for Big Ones for a couple of years, since it had a couple of “new” tracks. The other day I found a copy (cheap, which goes without saying) and was pleasantly surprised by how much cheesy good fun these guys were in their heyday. Bubble gum rock, power pop – labels don’t really matter – the boys had a brief but heady run for a few years in the 80s.

Big Ones may not be the perfect collection of hits, but it touches most of the bases. Say what you want about Loverboy, but they were pretty good, and even now they have the power of nostalgia on their side. Although, after all these years I’m still confused as to how a clunker like "Lovin’ Every Minute of It" ever became a hit.

But most of the big ones (ooooh that’s funny) are here, and sure there was room for more, but hey, if the label had gotten it right the first time, there wouldn’t have been a Loverboy Classics.

Still, considering I have most of the CDs anyway, this is good enough for me, and I really wanted it for the unreleased stuff. For You is a killer song and very much classic Loverboy. Ain’t Looking For Love, is pretty solid as well, and as far as swan songs go, they went out on a high note.

Reviewed November 5, 2004

Loverboy Classics (©1994 Columbia)

1: Turn Me Loose 2: Working For The Weekend 3: Take Me To The Top 4: The Kid Is Hot Tonight 5: This Could Be The Night 6: Jump 7: Lovin' Every Minute Of It 8: Notorious 9: Almost Paradise 10: Lucky Ones 11: Destination Heartbreak 12: Hot Girls In Love 13: When It's Over 14: It's Your Life 15: Gangs In The Street 16: Heaven In Your Eyes

Here we go (okay, call me weird, but I have this one too). Loverboy's hits repackaged, featuring a slightly different song selection than 1989's Big Ones. Too bad they didn't include "For You". If you are looking for a greatest hits collection this is the one to snag. The liner notes written by the late Scott Smith are funny and self effacing. Not to mention most of the really good songs are here (and they are remastered to boot).

The guys weren't out to solve the world's problems. It was about having a good time. Love 'em or hate 'em they did have a good time.

Reviewed November 9, 2004

VI (©1997 CMC International / BMG)

1: Big Picture 2: Love Of Money 3: Secrets 4: Waiting For The Night 5: Nobody Cares 6: Goodbye Angel 7: Create A Monster 8: Hair Of The Dog 9: Maybe Someday 10: Spinnin' My Wheels 11: So Much For Love 12: Tortured

Loverboy is back after a 10 year absence, but sadly I don't think anybody noticed, or cared that they were gone in the first place. I'll admit to being a closet fan. I rocked out to their string of hits, and thought that they were pretty cool.

So how is this album? The only song that comes close to catching the old magic is the first cut. But that's not to say the rest sucks, the songs are pretty good, but they sound tired. At least the boys aren't trying to fit in with the current sound. They have their niche, and are quite comfortable cranking out their brand of hard edged pop tunes.

Reviewed 1997

Just Getting Started (©2007)

1. Just Getting Started 2. Fade To Black 3. One Of Them Days 4. Back For More 5. Lost With You 6. I Would Die For You 7. Real Thing 8. The One That Got Away 9. As Good As It Gets 10. Stranded

A decade after their last disappointing outing, the boys return with one of the most consist albums of their career. I've been a fan since the first album - and the guys have always has spots of brilliance - but never a complete album of "all killer no filler". Holy crap where did this come from? Talk about too little too late, which is a real shame. This deserves to be heard. It's too bad that this will be written off as another over the hill bunch of nostalgia has-beens who are still trying to flog a dead horse.

Mike still has a killer set of pipes, Paul can still play like a hot damn, and Matt still has the frenetic (oooh a near pun there) energy of Animal on speed. Spider has fitted in nicely on bass, filling in for Scott Smith who tragically passed away in 2000. Also back in the fold on keyboards is Doug Johnson who was always a bigger part of the classic sound than people probably realize.

The album is a real return to form, with the big smoking rockers, the sappy mid tempo rockers, the syrupy ballads - all of them laced with cheesy lyrics and clichés. All said and done this is true guilty pleasure. Oh I'm pretty sure the guys are expecting this to put them back on the charts, but fans of the band should rejoice this is a truly solid album and one that was worth waiting for.

If the guys have gotten their second wind, this could be the start of a fun ride.

Reviewed January 11, 2008