This Week's Forgotten Gem of the '80s - The Outfield's "All the Love"
Thursday October 26, 2006
Featuring one of the decade's most addictively haunting guitar riffs and a plaintive, moving vocal performance from lead singer Tony Lewis, "All the Love" still shines as a significant power pop classic and an endlessly pleasant listen. The opening riff that serves as the engine for almost the entire song is both nimble and lush and somehow generates a feeling of complexity through its ultimate simplicity. Even better, guitarist John Spinks solidly sets the table with a very straightforward, highly effective melody in the verse, one that might even overshadow the song's repetitive chorus, perhaps its only mild weakness.Though accused of a certain degree of blandness from time to time and devoid of any memorable names and faces, the London-based Outfield nevertheless qualifies as an essential rock ensemble in a decade that didn't boast all that many of those. In fact, the glitzy era may have penalized the band for its workmanlike approach to some extent, but that doesn't stop the band's music from holding up far better today than many of its more recognized contemporaries. Future Hall of Famers or not, the Outfield helped preserve guitar-based pop in a mid-'80s era during which the form flirted with extinction. That's reason enough for celebration.
Album Cover Image Courtesy of Legacy Recordings
Comments
The Outfield sure did bring back harmonies too. Not sure where they went or if they came back but i think that’s what made a lot of their songs nice. There’s that group of artists such as them, David and David (is that right) and do you remember Russ Ballard? Voices? He was mostly a writer (for Ace Frehley actually).. Good stuff, steve.