Little River Band – “First Under the Wire”

The Sleeve:

The Liner/Sleeve Notes:
None.

Personal Review:
 So, this one is here because 1. my friend asked me to review it, and 2. because I wanted to do an album I’ve never heard of before. Besides, it was a gift from my mom for my 19th or 20th birthday.

 So, the album opens with the song “Lonesome Loser” and it makes for a pretty decent opening track, the vocals are good – but I really do not like the chorus. Kind of annoying. After that comes the track “The Rumor” which seems to be a better track, a little slow to start, but then it picks up a lot, and the song is rather good. The chorus is pretty great too. “By My Side” follows next, and it’s a slower track, and it has that soft rock feel to it, you know the kind that like a band like Air Supply has, it’s like that. But, it isn’t an overly bad track. “Cool Change” follows next, and the back cover design of this album is making it very hard for me to read the track names, oddly this song sounds familiar, I’m just gonna listen to it, and figure out if I actually know it or not. Yup, don’t know the song, but hey, it’s a really nice song to listen to. Yup, definitely my favorite track of this side of the album so far. The A-Side ends with the track “It’s Not a Wonder” – and well, it’s pretty great. No real complaints here with this side so far! It’s got quite the nice vibe to it!

 The B-Side opens with “Hard Life (Prelude)” which has some nice guitar playing in it, then again it’s just a guitar instrumental that goes into the actual track “Hard Life” which is a pretty solid track with lots more guitar solos and stuff, it’s not a bad track at all, the lyrics are good and the vocals are pretty amazing. After that follows the track “Middle Man” – and it’s a softer, slower track, but it’s pretty good, with pretty deep lyrics. The song is good, and well, I like it. “Man on the Run” follows up next, the musicianship is pretty good, and the vocals are nice. The album ends with the track “Mistress of Mine” – and it has some sitar playing in it, and it’s amazing, because sitars are the coolest things ever – next to banjos. The album ends on a good note, so everything good.

Interesting Facts:
None.

Track Listing:
A1 – Lonesome Loser
A2 – The Rumor
A3 – By My Side
A4 – Cool Change
A5 – It’s Not a Wonder

B1 – Hard Life (Prelude)
B2 – Hard Life
B3 – Middle Man
B4 – Man on the Run
B5 – Mistress of Mine

Label:
Capitol Records

Catalog Number:
SOO-11954

Studio Musicians & Other Album Credits:
Acoustic Guitar – John Boylan
Backing Vocals – Glenn Shorrock
Bass – Clive Harrison & Mike Clarke
Drums & Percussion – Derek Pellicci
Guitar – David Briggs
Guitar, Backing Vocals – Beeb Birtles
Guitar, Vocals, Backing Vocals – Graham Goble
Keyboards – Peter Jones
Piano – Peter Jones & Peter Sullivan
Saxophone – Bill Harrower
Sitar – David Briggs
Vibraphone – Barry Quinn
Vocals – Beeb Birtles & Glenn Shorrock

Engineered – Ern Rose
Assisting Engineers – Jim Barton, Ross Cockle & Ian McKenzie
Recorded at AAV Australia, South Melbourne
Additional Recording at TCS Studios
Design – Jo Ford & Ray Wilkinson
Art – Ian McCausland,
Photography – Graeme Webber

Other Albums I Own by Little River Band:
None.

Released:
1979

Related Vinyls:

Elton John – “Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player” Bay City Rollers – “Bay City Rollers” Fotomaker – “Vis-a-Vis” Paul McCartney & Wings – “Band on the Run”