Tuesday, June 16, 2020

The 1980 Listening Post - FM - City of Fear


FM - City of Fear

#63
1980 Housekeeping
FM (Canada)
City of Fear
Genre: If Rush was actually a Power Pop band
3.75 out of 5


Highlights: 
Truth or Consequences
City of Fear


Sitting here, once again drinking Vodka & Orange SodaStream (but this time I have an excuse! We ordered a TON of meat from a wholesaler and we need room in the freezer and that Vodka bottle was big) I fired up this FM record with only a vague memory of who this band was. I mean, I knew them from somewhere but I don’t recall ever hearing them.
As I was listening to “Power” i think…”this is like Rush lite!” and then it hits me!
I saw them! They opened for Rush during the Moving Pictures concert at Madison Square Garden. So impressed was I that I never thought of them again until just this moment. 
And, it might have been UFO. 
Or Triumph. 
But, no. It was FM. I’m sure of it. 
I get the sense that this was their big shot at the ring. I think they go on hiatus after this record for a while but they really put their everything into it and I appreciate most of. That title track screams Epic! but it never quite gets to legendary status. So damned close, though. This would rate higher were it not for “Riding the Thunder”’s general awfulness. 

These guys are too straightforward at times to be really Prog and then too prog to be commercial. It’s a shame. 
They seem nice. 
You know, Canadians!

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