Band: Status Quo
Album: 12 Gold Bars, vol. 1
Genre: Rock/Boogie Rock
Released: 1980 by Vertigo Records
Personnel:
Rick Parfitt (vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards)
Francis Rossi (lead vocals, lead guitar)
Alan Lancaster (vocals, bass guitar)
John Coghlan (drums).
1. Rockin' All Over the World (Fogerty) - 3:58
2. Down Down (Rossi/Young) - 4:15
3. Caroline (Rossi/Young) - 4:08
4. Paper Plane (Rossi/Young) - 3:16
5. Break the Rules (Rossi/Young/Parfitt/Lancaster/Coghlan) - 4:03
6. Again and Again (Parfitt/Bown/Lynton) - 4:04
7. Mystery Song (Parfitt/Young) - 4:24
8. Roll Over Lay Down (Rossi/Young/Lancaster/Parfitt/Coghlan) - 6:17
9. Rain (Parfitt) - 5:03
10. Wild Side of Life (Warren/Carter) - 3:36
11. Whatever You Want (Parfitt/Bown) - 4:28
12. Living On An Island (Parfitt/Young) - 4:15
The Album
12 Gold Bars is a shuffle of the band’s top hits from 1972-1979. This compilation covers hits off of 8 albums and leads off with the band’s anthem “Rockin’ All Over The World”. The Quo has been around since the 60’s (making them one of Britain’s longest lived rock bands) and has filled the fans ears with nothing but pure boogie ever since the 70’s. In the 60’s, Status Quo’s sound was psychedelic, but after a change of sound to a 3 chord boogie, Status Quo became one of the biggest boogie and blues rock bands with more charting hits than any other band in rock history. If you are like me, and not familiar with Status Quo in the 70’s, then this is the perfect album to get started with. The songs all have the same band line-up and have proven to be some of the best boogie of the 70’s. Once you get a taste of Quo’s boogie, you will be hooked.
The Music
”Rockin’ All Over the World” ~ This song is the band’s anthem and the title track off the “Rocking All Over the World” album. Probably the most popular song by Status Quo and has been covered by many other artists like Bruce Springsteen, The Beach Boys, and Bon Jovi. The song is simple, breezy, and fun. It is easy to sing along to and one of those songs that makes you tap your foot.
”Down Down” ~ A high energy song. Definitely a song to get you up and doing the boogie. This song is off the “On the Level” album. The song lyrics are extremely repetitive and make no sense, but they don’t have to, the “D..DD down down” is so catchy you don’t even notice that it makes no sense.
”Caroline” ~ Take my hand, together we can rock n’ roll……..what a great lyric line! This song appears on the “Hello!” album, and it definitely has one of the greatest boogie riffs. Caroline is a gem, and my pick of their hits.
”Paper Plane” ~ This song is off the “Piledriver” album. The intro is original and gets repeated throughout the song. It has a bit heavier droning sound than the other hits. The song is a high energy song, which might bring back memories of dancing the shoulder bop. This song’s lyrics were written by the band’s road manager, who co-wrote several of Quo’s hits. A good Tune
”Break the Rules” ~ This song is off the “Quo” album. A honky-tonk song with a good boogie-blues beat. The solo’s go from an electric guitar solo to a piano solo then a harmonica solo, quite impressive! The lyrical story is very cute about breaking the barroom rules.
”Again and Again” ~ This song is off the “If You Can’t Stand the Heat” album. What an awesome beat. The song is very repetitive as far the lyrics go, but the music makes you move . At this point I am definitely seeing the constant use of the 3 chord progression in their songs, not that this is bad, but it does begin to lose it’s “wow”.
”Mystery Song” ~ This song is off the “Blue for You” album. The heat is turned up a notch on the boogie but I can’t help but think this song is a bit bland. The song jams mid-song which adds a redeeming quality.
”Roll Over Lay Down” ~ This song is off the “Hello!” album. Finally some variation to the music on this album. This song is a excellent boogie-blues song with some neat breaks and chops. I enjoyed the guitar solo.
”Rain” ~ This song is off the “Blue For You” album. I really like the way they sing “I can’t live without the Rahain”…..it adds interest to the song. The boogie on this song is fabulous and the solo is another jam session. Another good tune!
”Wild Side of Life” ~ This song was a single back in 1976 and appears on the 2005 re-issue of the “Blue For You” album. What can I say about this song other than it is a good boogie, honky-tonk jam.
”Whatever You Want” ~ This song is the title track off the “Whatever You Want” album. The intro to this song is beautiful with a fantastic build-up to the overall song. The song has a few neat twists to the music flow and a pretty decent mini –jam mid song. A neat song.
”Living On An Island”~This song is off the “Whatever You Want” album. A great acoustic song. The vocal harmonies on this song set it apart from the other songs. This is the only song on the album that isn’t a boogie tune, this is a more psychedelic song. Great closer for the album.
Overall, this compilation is fantastic. It puts together 12 of the greatest hits of Status Quo from the 70’s in a shuffle order. The album isn’t boring, but the music can get repetitive with the same 3 chords over and over, but I didn’t seem to mind.
My rating for listening pleasure 3/5.
Album: 12 Gold Bars, vol. 1
Genre: Rock/Boogie Rock
Released: 1980 by Vertigo Records
Personnel:
Rick Parfitt (vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards)
Francis Rossi (lead vocals, lead guitar)
Alan Lancaster (vocals, bass guitar)
John Coghlan (drums).
1. Rockin' All Over the World (Fogerty) - 3:58
2. Down Down (Rossi/Young) - 4:15
3. Caroline (Rossi/Young) - 4:08
4. Paper Plane (Rossi/Young) - 3:16
5. Break the Rules (Rossi/Young/Parfitt/Lancaster/Coghlan) - 4:03
6. Again and Again (Parfitt/Bown/Lynton) - 4:04
7. Mystery Song (Parfitt/Young) - 4:24
8. Roll Over Lay Down (Rossi/Young/Lancaster/Parfitt/Coghlan) - 6:17
9. Rain (Parfitt) - 5:03
10. Wild Side of Life (Warren/Carter) - 3:36
11. Whatever You Want (Parfitt/Bown) - 4:28
12. Living On An Island (Parfitt/Young) - 4:15
The Album
12 Gold Bars is a shuffle of the band’s top hits from 1972-1979. This compilation covers hits off of 8 albums and leads off with the band’s anthem “Rockin’ All Over The World”. The Quo has been around since the 60’s (making them one of Britain’s longest lived rock bands) and has filled the fans ears with nothing but pure boogie ever since the 70’s. In the 60’s, Status Quo’s sound was psychedelic, but after a change of sound to a 3 chord boogie, Status Quo became one of the biggest boogie and blues rock bands with more charting hits than any other band in rock history. If you are like me, and not familiar with Status Quo in the 70’s, then this is the perfect album to get started with. The songs all have the same band line-up and have proven to be some of the best boogie of the 70’s. Once you get a taste of Quo’s boogie, you will be hooked.
The Music
”Rockin’ All Over the World” ~ This song is the band’s anthem and the title track off the “Rocking All Over the World” album. Probably the most popular song by Status Quo and has been covered by many other artists like Bruce Springsteen, The Beach Boys, and Bon Jovi. The song is simple, breezy, and fun. It is easy to sing along to and one of those songs that makes you tap your foot.
”Down Down” ~ A high energy song. Definitely a song to get you up and doing the boogie. This song is off the “On the Level” album. The song lyrics are extremely repetitive and make no sense, but they don’t have to, the “D..DD down down” is so catchy you don’t even notice that it makes no sense.
”Caroline” ~ Take my hand, together we can rock n’ roll……..what a great lyric line! This song appears on the “Hello!” album, and it definitely has one of the greatest boogie riffs. Caroline is a gem, and my pick of their hits.
”Paper Plane” ~ This song is off the “Piledriver” album. The intro is original and gets repeated throughout the song. It has a bit heavier droning sound than the other hits. The song is a high energy song, which might bring back memories of dancing the shoulder bop. This song’s lyrics were written by the band’s road manager, who co-wrote several of Quo’s hits. A good Tune
”Break the Rules” ~ This song is off the “Quo” album. A honky-tonk song with a good boogie-blues beat. The solo’s go from an electric guitar solo to a piano solo then a harmonica solo, quite impressive! The lyrical story is very cute about breaking the barroom rules.
”Again and Again” ~ This song is off the “If You Can’t Stand the Heat” album. What an awesome beat. The song is very repetitive as far the lyrics go, but the music makes you move . At this point I am definitely seeing the constant use of the 3 chord progression in their songs, not that this is bad, but it does begin to lose it’s “wow”.
”Mystery Song” ~ This song is off the “Blue for You” album. The heat is turned up a notch on the boogie but I can’t help but think this song is a bit bland. The song jams mid-song which adds a redeeming quality.
”Roll Over Lay Down” ~ This song is off the “Hello!” album. Finally some variation to the music on this album. This song is a excellent boogie-blues song with some neat breaks and chops. I enjoyed the guitar solo.
”Rain” ~ This song is off the “Blue For You” album. I really like the way they sing “I can’t live without the Rahain”…..it adds interest to the song. The boogie on this song is fabulous and the solo is another jam session. Another good tune!
”Wild Side of Life” ~ This song was a single back in 1976 and appears on the 2005 re-issue of the “Blue For You” album. What can I say about this song other than it is a good boogie, honky-tonk jam.
”Whatever You Want” ~ This song is the title track off the “Whatever You Want” album. The intro to this song is beautiful with a fantastic build-up to the overall song. The song has a few neat twists to the music flow and a pretty decent mini –jam mid song. A neat song.
”Living On An Island”~This song is off the “Whatever You Want” album. A great acoustic song. The vocal harmonies on this song set it apart from the other songs. This is the only song on the album that isn’t a boogie tune, this is a more psychedelic song. Great closer for the album.
Overall, this compilation is fantastic. It puts together 12 of the greatest hits of Status Quo from the 70’s in a shuffle order. The album isn’t boring, but the music can get repetitive with the same 3 chords over and over, but I didn’t seem to mind.
My rating for listening pleasure 3/5.
