Wednesday, September 15, 2021

The 1980 Listening Post - Nantucket - Long Way to the Top

Nantucket - Long Way to the Top 


1980 Housekeeping LISTENING POST DISCOVERY (YMMV EDITION)

Nantucket

Long Way to the Top

Genre: Rock (Sometimes Southern)

4.25 out of 5




Highlights:

Living with You

Time Bomb

Rugburn

Too Much Wrong in the Past (for a Future)

Tell Me



Requisite 80s cover: “Its a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock and Roll)”. Bon Scott had just died earlier that year. What a tribute to cover a monster AC/DC hit, do it well and then name your album after that song. I take it more as a tribute than an attempt for attention. 


First off, lemme say, I love it when bands name themselves for places. 

Chicago

Boston

Toronto

& Nantucket. 


Nantucket???


Have you ever been to Nantucket??


I have. We were driving home from a visit to my father’s sister in Queens and my parents announced, “Hey. We’re going to Nantucket for the weekend!”. And that’s how I ended up in Nantucket. 


The only thing I recall is that the movie FM was playing at the local movie theater and I wanted to see it cuz, well, rock music and Martin Mull. Need I say more?


My parents said we weren’t wasting a trip to Nantucket to go watch a movie we could see anywhere. They said the same thing when I said I wanted to see Close Encounters in Israel. 


I did not appreciate travel. I still do not.


This opens with a cover of AC/DC’s “Long Way to the Top” but Imma allow it since this band said this record was a tribute to Bon Scott and that got the band an opening slot on a tour. It’s not bad. 

Personally, I prefer their originals. They suffered from weak production but that’s a reflection on 1980, not the band. Despite the dumb-ass name.

Yes, I even like “50 More”, which is more prog than southern rock or metal and, dammit, I’m digging that sax!


This is a much better record than I would have thought, all things considered. The songs are tight and the playing is top notch. Tommy Redd’s voice is awful but, hey, lots of rock voices are awful. Right, Colin Meloy?


The album gets a bit cheesy toward the end, but I loved it.






https://music.apple.com/us/album/long-way-to-the-top/435629941

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