Bachman Turner Overdrive - Bachman Turner Overdrive (1973 great canadian heavy rock - Wave)

The first was the best...
Some bands need time to get up to stride; others come up with their best stuff when they still toiled in relative obscurity. BTO fits in the latter. Their first album is easily their best, starting off right away with "Gimme Your Money Please", a tune sure to please with the heavy guitar riffs and snarling vocals of C F Turner. That's followed by "Hold Back the Water", which was the flip side of the single "Blue Collar", which is also great. You may remember "Blue Collar" as a bluesy tune; unfortunately the band never explored that side of their music much, because this track works. Other good tracks include "Stayed Awake All Night" and "Down and Out Man", a rare vocal by early member Tim Bachman. Commercial success probably led them to go down the safe and easy path with subsequent releases, although their fourth album "Four Wheel Drive" rebounds a bit before the band personnel changed and BTO plummeted. This album and "Four Wheel Drive" are the ones you want. If you're a fan, the other albums work, too. But this is their best one, hands down.(By Mark R. Van Wagenen)