View Single Post
 
Old 05-13-2012, 08:12 PM
Kuba80BJ's Avatar
Kuba80BJ Kuba80BJ is offline
Senior Member
Lay your Posts on Me
 
Join Date: 21 Nov 2009
Location: Gdansk, Poland
Age: 43
Gender: male
Posts: 662
Default

Well, this time I feel I need to put a longer comment than usual when I rank the album songs. Without a doubt, this is my absolutely fav album, not only by BJ but by any artist. This album is perfect for me. There isn’t a single song I don’t like on it, including the bonus tracks. I also don’t think second part of the album is weaker than the first one. Each one of them is unique and represent the music that fills my heart and soul. And there are many factors that make it so special for me.
First of all, my whole passion for BJ started with this album. I was 12 years old back then and I saw the brand new KTF video on MTV and have fallen in love with it right away. I bought the KTF cassette soon and played it nonstop. This is an album that literally formed the backbone of my music taste. Moreover, in general in my country MTV and satellite TV was something completely new back then. It was our first taste of the Western world, that was so well kept hidden from us for dozens of years in the socialism times. I know I was a kid back then and I can’t remember much from those times, but for us early 90’ was a new beginning too, just like that album was for the band. And for me personally it was a first step into the world of adults and making my own decisions. And I am glad this was the album that found me on the way in that particular time of my life.
One of the biggest virtues of this album is that lyrically it carries the same theme, same message. You listen to it as a whole. For me it’s the best cure whenever I feel sad, angry or broken inside. It always lifts me up, reminds me that I should not worry about anything, believe in myself, concentrate on positive things and show the middle finger to this wicked world whenever it tries to put me down. And it also works when I am happy, to remind why and how I have such a wonderful life. It also helped me a lot to learn English language, because I wanted to know what the songs are about. I felt the energy of the music but also needed to understand the lyrics to fully understand the power of this album.
And that is why KTF is my ultimate #1 song, not only on this album, but also of all time. It became the motto of my life. And the music of the song fits the lyrics perfectly. It is so energetic, powerful – simply perfect. Brilliant solos by Richie, absolutely overwhelming vocals by Jon, and such a strong chorus. And I think unlike any other song (maybe except Prayer) this song always works perfectly live.
My sec favourite is Dry County, which is also not only my sec fav on the album but also of all time. It is just slightly lower in the ranking than KTF, because of the positive message my #1 brings. But actually in my heart they both share the same important spot. Maybe some of you remember my Dublin story and how much this song means to me. It took me almost 20 years to hear it live, which only made my love to it stronger than ever. That main solo by Richie, with that whole intro to it, the wind blowing, Tico’s beat accelerating etc. is THE moment of the song. Masterpiece is not even a proper word for this song for me, as well as for KTF. In my dictionary there is no word or scale to describe the greatness of those two songs.
Apart from those 2 giants, this album also includes my fav BJ ballad - Bed of Roses – which was also our wedding song. I really like IWY too, very underrated love song. ITA for me is a great example of an up-tempo love song while WIL is also a great song about relationships and recipe for mature love.
Fear is a hidden treasure for sure and a very underrated song, with awesome lyrics. Its powerful guitars and that anger in Jon’s voice only add so much energy to that. Same goes for I Believe, a fantastic uplifting song.
And I absolutely love the roughness and hard rock sound of IIWYM and actually I would pay any money to hear it live someday.
SWID, Blame and LBOS – I put them all in the same category of the positive and joyful songs. Actually I wish Jon would switch them during live shows. I so would love to hear Blame or LBOS live someday.
As for bonus tracks, also they are in the same league of greatness as any of the album tracks. SAP is a such a strong anthem, also very spiritual, just like KTF. And SAOA is also a great rock song, that fits the album lyrically and musically.

In general, it’s almost impossible for me to rate it. Even the song that gets 1pt from me here, actually would beat most of the songs from other albums easily. I just have to rate them somehow now for the sake of this poll. I am only sure of TOP3, the rest is just a shot to choose between very good and great.
This album is just pure hard rock in its best form. It’s all about faith, love, joy of life and positive thinking. Everything that we all need to be happy. Perfect songwriting, perfect production, perfect vocals, perfect melodies. I don’t think they will ever reach that level of greatness again, and to tell you the truth even if they won’t, it’s ok for me. I am grateful to have this jewel with me, for the most part of my life, which is more than I could ever ask for.

14 - Keep The Faith (if I could I would give it 1000pts)
13 - Dry County (same as KTF)
12 - Bed Of Roses
11 - I Believe
10 - Fear
09 - If I Was Your Mother
08 - In These Arms
07 - I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
06 - Blame It On The Love Of Rock 'n' Roll
05 - Little Bit Of Soul
04 - Save A Prayer
03 - Starting All Over Again
02 - I Want You
01 - Woman In Love (still it doesn’t mean I don’t like it, I absolutely love it)


EDIT: I’ve just realized it was my 500th post over here. What a pleasure it was to write it about a thing I have so much passion for

Last edited by Kuba80BJ; 05-13-2012 at 08:16 PM..
Reply With Quote