🎡 AotW Glen Burtnik HEROES & ZEROS (A&M SP 5166)

LPJim

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A1 Follow YouAcoustic Guitar, Keyboards – Glen BurtnickBacking Vocals – Bob Burger, Britt Savage, David Prater (2), Glen Burtnick, Shelly ThompsonBass – Buddy AllenDrums – Anton FigElectric Guitar – Doug WorthingtonGuitar [Solo] – Doug Worthington, Neal Schon 4:01
A2 Spinning My WheelsBacking Vocals, Percussion – David Prater (2), Glen BurtnickBass – Buddy AllenDrums – Anton FigGuitar – Doug Worthington, Glen BurtnickKeyboards – Plinky (2)Keyboards [Additional] – Glen BurtnickPercussion – Mick Gormaley 3:54
A3 Walls Came DownBacking Vocals, Percussion – David Prater (2), Glen BurtnickBass – Buddy AllenDrums – Chuck BΓΌrgiGuitar – Doug Worthington, Glen Burtnick 3:45
A4 Stupid Boys (Suckers For Love)Backing Vocals, Percussion – David Prater (2), Glen BurtnickBass – Buddy AllenDrums – Chuck BΓΌrgiKeyboards [Additional] – Plinky (2)Keyboards, Guitar – Glen Burtnick 3:46
A5 Love Goes OnBass – Buddy AllenDrums – David Prater (2)Guitar – Glen BurtnickKeyboards – Plinky (2)Lead Guitar – Neal Schon 4:22
B1 Heard It On The RadioBacking Vocals, Percussion – David Prater (2), Glen BurtnickBass – Buddy AllenDrums – Chuck BΓΌrgiGuitar, Harmonica – Glen Burtnick 3:39
B2 AbaleneBacking Vocals – David Prater (2), Glen BurtnickBass – Buddy AllenDrums – David Prater (2)Guitar – Glen BurtnickKeyboards – Glen Burtnick, Plinky (2)Lead Guitar – Neal Schon 3:48
B3 Here Comes SallyBacking Vocals, Percussion – David Prater (2), Glen BurtnickBass – Buddy AllenDrums – Anton FigElectric Guitar – Doug WorthingtonHarmonica [Solo] – Southside Johnny Lyon*Keyboards, Acoustic Guitar – Glen Burtnick 3:41
B4 ScatteredBacking Vocals, Percussion – David Prater (2), Glen BurtnickBass – Buddy AllenDrums – David Prater (2)Guitar – Doug Worthington, Glen Burtnick 3:06
B5 The Day Your Ship Gets ThruBass – Buddy AllenDrums – David Prater (2)Finger Snaps – Niko BolasGuitar, Voice [All Voices] – Glen BurtnickLead Guitar – Neal SchonPiano, Accordion – Bruce Hornsby 3:11


Entered the Billboard Top 200 on Oct. 24, 1987
Charted for six weeks and peaked at # 147
Issued as CD 5166

JB
 
Ah, yes! Now we're talking obscure-but-diamond-in the rough recordings here... The best, yet [unfortunately] overlooked and undersold album HEROES AND ZEROS from Glen Burtnick (later spelled 'Burtnik'). Recorded and released in 1987... some 2-3 years before he would initially replace Tommy Shaw for the Styx comeback album EDGE OF THE CENTURY (1990), Burtnick recorded this second solo lp (a great follow up to the 1986 lp TALKING IN CODE). And frankly, this was Burtnick's finest hour as a musician, IMHO. Every song on HEROES AND ZEROS is finely polished rock & roll, not too brash but not too subtle either. "Follow You", "Stupid Boys (Suckers For Love)" and "The Day Your Ship Gets Thru" are among my personal favorites here, but all of the tracks are at least listenable to me.

Now keep in mind that this is late 1980s youth oriented rock, loud with a bit of a juvenile edge to it. Coincidentally, I first discovered this album just after Styx's EDGE came out, as well as the first DAMN YANKEES album around 1990 or so. And to a guy like me, having been a pop, jazz and even country fan up to this point, all of this stuff was incredibly LOUD ... at least to me. Even the old Styx albums, while they were definitely rock & roll, were all balanced with a more sophisticated alter ego in most tracks. But for the albums in this time period, it seemed that we all just needed to kick butt and scream and shout a little bit. (On a personal note: Never having been a big fan of metal or hair bands, I guess I was just going through that phase of finally exploring more reckless music.) Definitely not something I would play on a regular basis these days. But if you grew up during that time as I did, you might be able to relate to the style, and the feeling, and enjoy a joyride in the late 80s hair band rock & roll nostalgia van. And back in the day, I played it a lot after I discovered Burtnick (through Styx, of course) and bought the CD out of sheer curiosity for one whole dollar in the cutout bin. What a great deal that was!

Unfortunately, when Burtnick had spare time after his first and second stints with Styx, his own subsequent solo albums were nowhere near as captivating as this one. But here the songwriting is great, the vocals are good, and the backing band is as good as any late 80s rock band. Neal Schon of Journey appears on several tracks, and the final track actually features Schon as well as Bruce Hornsby. All things considered: Four stars.
 
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