Friday, June 21, 2019

The 1985 Listening Post - Randy California - Restless

Randy California - Restless


#244/895
June 1985
Randy California
Restless
Genre: Rock
2.75 out of 5


Highlights: 
Restless Nights



I have no real experience with Spirit. When I was in High School I used to listen to Fairleigh-Dickinson University’s radio station. I used to listen to The Kid after school on weekdays. I would call in. A lot. He invited me to come to the station and play records and then weirdly reneged when i showed up at the appointed time. 
It was a disappointment. To say the least. 
But, before that I was listening once and I heard an album with a bunch of samples from various media sources and it never ever freaking ended! I finally called in to find out what I was hearing. 
Turns out it was Spirit. The Kid had a test the next day and needed to study so he just put one hole album on and let it play for 20 minutes while he studied. 
Then he’d flip it over. 
That was my exposure to Randy California’s band. 
Later I became a fan of Randy’s solely based on the fact that he was suing Led Zeppelin for stealing his melody and appropriating it for “Stairway to Heaven”. 
But I still never listened to any of his music. 
Until now. 
It’s weird just how pedestrian 80s rock this sounds. He’s accomplished, I’ll give him that. And what we have here (all but 7 tracks) is perfectly acceptable album rock of the time. It’s enough to interest me in some of the rest of his catalog but, also, to note that he might’ve been a helluva an addition to, say, Deep Purple or Whitesnake or any of the other bands of that ilk. But it’s not great. That’s not the word I’d use for it. 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBJ7ztNazTVCOeZXSn1Fa4WF6wngyUrbu 

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