HUMBLE PIE
‘On To Victory’ was the ninth studio album recorded by Humble Pie and was first released back in 1980. The band were formed in 1969 by the Essex based Steve Marriott, previously of the Small Faces. As with many bands of reasonable longevity, Humble Pie experienced numerous line-up changes and the incarnation that recorded this long player featured guitarist Bobby Tench from the Jeff Beck Group, bassist Anthony Jones and drummer Jerry Shirley who was in the band from its inception and joined at the tender age of 17!
What this re-release offers is actually pretty much a mixed bag. There’s a handful of up-tempo, hard-edged, rockier numbers in ‘Fool For A Pretty Face’ (which was released as a single, making the lower reaches of the US charts), ‘Take It From Here’ which has a nice, almost metal style intro, and ‘Further Down The Road’. There’s also a lot of looser, blues type tracks, some with an RnB feel (‘Infatuation’), others with a funky, reggae approach (‘Savin’ It’, the intro to which bears more than a passing resemblance to ‘Badge’ by Cream) and one with gospel style vocals (‘Baby Don’t You Do it’).
The overall production gives the record a loose, almost jammed feel and one can’t help feel that it is something of a musical anachronism, given that at the time of its release we had the fledgling NWOBHM movement making its presence felt (Iron Maiden and Def Leppard issued their debuts this year, alongside releases from Saxon and more established bands such as Black Sabbath and AC/DC), and there was also the advent of New Wave and synth-based music.
All in all, though, this is a decent record with some pretty good tracks in the rockier numbers. If you are of a certain vintage, and fancy a spot of nostalgic listening, this release could be just the thing to provide it.
What this re-release offers is actually pretty much a mixed bag. There’s a handful of up-tempo, hard-edged, rockier numbers in ‘Fool For A Pretty Face’ (which was released as a single, making the lower reaches of the US charts), ‘Take It From Here’ which has a nice, almost metal style intro, and ‘Further Down The Road’. There’s also a lot of looser, blues type tracks, some with an RnB feel (‘Infatuation’), others with a funky, reggae approach (‘Savin’ It’, the intro to which bears more than a passing resemblance to ‘Badge’ by Cream) and one with gospel style vocals (‘Baby Don’t You Do it’).
The overall production gives the record a loose, almost jammed feel and one can’t help feel that it is something of a musical anachronism, given that at the time of its release we had the fledgling NWOBHM movement making its presence felt (Iron Maiden and Def Leppard issued their debuts this year, alongside releases from Saxon and more established bands such as Black Sabbath and AC/DC), and there was also the advent of New Wave and synth-based music.
All in all, though, this is a decent record with some pretty good tracks in the rockier numbers. If you are of a certain vintage, and fancy a spot of nostalgic listening, this release could be just the thing to provide it.
LABEL:
FORMAT:
Store for Music
Album
ON TO VICTORY
Review by Dave Uphill
RUNNING TIME:
38:00
RELEASE DATE:
20th Sept 2019
TRACK LISTING
1) Fool for a Pretty Face
2) You Soppy Pratt
3) Infatuation
4) Take it From Here
5) Savin' It
6) Baby Don't You Do It
7) Get it in the End
8) My Lover's Prayer
9) Further Down the Road
10) Over You
2) You Soppy Pratt
3) Infatuation
4) Take it From Here
5) Savin' It
6) Baby Don't You Do It
7) Get it in the End
8) My Lover's Prayer
9) Further Down the Road
10) Over You
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
UK
"If you are of a certain vintage, and fancy a spot of nostalgic listening, this release could be just the thing to provide it."
