The Tale Of The Tape (©1980 Capitol / ©2006 Rock Candy)

1: The Big Beat 2: Calley Oh 3: Rich Kid 4: Like I'm Lovin' You 5: Who Knows What A Love Can Do 6: You Should Be High,Love 7: Who's Your Boyfriend 8: The Music's All Right 9: Young Girls 10: The Music's All Right (Original Acoustic Demo) 11: Young Girls (Abbreviated Acoustic Demo)

Finally available on CD, Billy's first solo release is a testament to what a kick ass rock record should sound like. Considering this is new to me, I was totally blown away by how fresh this sounded over 25 year after its release.

Billy's rock had two things that set it apart from the rest of the crowd: First was his approach to the guitar: Less is more. Second was his voice - the guy has pretty much the perfect rock voice.

The songs here all sound great, and hats off to the team who lovingly remastered the project. The thing practically sparkles. The booklet was well done as well. Lots of notes and the track commentary by Billy although a bit sparse but good. The two acoustic demo tracks are interesting time pieces but not really anything I appreciate all that much truth be told.

This was worth the wait!

Reviewed February 28, 2006

Creatures of Habit (©1991 Capitol)

The Songs: Young At Heart / She Goes Down / Lover / Hollywood / Conscience Point / Nerves On Ice / Hands Of Seduction / Facts Of Life / (L-O-V-E) Four Letter Word / Strange Fire / Alone In Your Dreams (Don't Say Goodbye)

Another one in a string of solid albums by Billy Squier. There is a hint of past glory in "She Goes Down." Although the rest of the songs are better than filler, they don't really stand out. This is actually a plus - as it's nice to have an album full of good rock and roll.

Billy's found his niche and is having a pretty good time delivering his brand of guitar driven rock and roll. As always he's backed by (the late great) Bobby Chouinard on drums, Jeff Golub (yes the jazz guitar guy) on guitar, Marke Clarke on bass and Alan St. John on keyboards.

Reviewed February 5, 2001

Tell The Truth (©1993 Capitol)

The Songs: Angry / Tryin' To Walk A Straight Line / Rhythm /(A Bridge So Far) / Hercules / Lovin' You Ain't So Hard / Time Bomb / Stranger To Myself / The Girl's All Right / Break Down / Not A Color / Mind-Machine / Shocked Straight

This was Billy's last foray into the rock and roll arena. It's a shame his swan song didn't find a bigger audience. This was vintage Squier, front and centre treble charged guitars, big drums, and crunchy bass. Sonically this is a brilliant record. Bill still knows how to borrow riffs. Case and point: there's a little wanky nod to "footloose" on "Tryin' To Walk A Straight Line", and an enormously subtle tip of the hat to The Clash on "Shocked Straight." Whatever, and who really cares. This is a fine rock album. He pulls out one of his best songs ever in "Rhythm." It's too bad he had to tag on the "A Bridge So Far" bit. Why didn't he have it stand alone? Oh well. At least Billy went out on a high note, his fans noticed even if hardly anyone else did.

Reviewed February 8, 2001

Happy Blue (©1998 J-Bird)

The Songs: Happy Blues / The Pursuit Of Happiness ? She Will / Grasping For Oblivion / If You Would Hate Me Less, I'd Love You More / Stroke Me Blues / More Than Words Can Say / Inferno (Everybody Cries Sometimes) / Long Way To Fall / River / Two

This is not the Billy Squier I remember. I followed him through the 80's, right up to his last album Tell the Truth. Probably best known for "The Stroke" Billy ruled the roost as king of the telecaster. Somewhere along the way music moved on leaving King Bill behind. So what do you do if you're labeled a nostalgia act? Do you record something so different that you run the risk of alienating your old fans, or try and keep up with the times and alienate your old fans? Hmm. He did something different.

My first listen through I thought, oh well. So I listened again, and thought, hmm. Then it started to grow on me. The production of the album however left me a little cold at times. A solo guitar effort is a challenge to record properly. Brooks Williams is a good "how to" example. Okay, so sonically the record was a little flat at times, but I enjoyed the "in your living room" feel the album has to it. Not for everyone, but if you want to know what it would be like to have Billy visit, drink a few beers and jam in your kitchen this is the album for you.