[.ca] Bachman-Turner Overdrive II

one of bto's best efforts:
bto was a muscular boogie band from canada, both musically and literally (frontmen randy bachman and fred turner could have played line for any number of football teams! )this album marked the band's commercial breakthrough with the monster hit "takin' care of business" (still heard regularly on office depot commercials) and minor hits "let it ride" and "welcome home." the sound is hard rock from start to finish, but not as metallic as the next effort 'not fragile' would be. the boogie is still here (eg., "business" and "tramp"), as well as a glimpse of mr. bachman's jazz chops (check out the end of "welcome home," an almost completely different song as the band gets into a brubeck groove), as was "blue collar" from their first album. this album captures the live feel, not far removed from the bar room. no studio gimmicks, no subtlety, just power chords and hard rock joy!

Not as good as later albums.:
This is the album that broke BTO in the U.S. "Takin Care Of Business" and "Let It Ride" are two fine songs. The thing that brings this album down are the two songs that Tim Bachman wrote. "Blown" is OK but "I Don't Have To Hide" is possibly the worst song this band ever produced. "Give It Time" rocks like there is no tomorrow and "Stonegates" is also a good song. "Welcome Home" and "Tramp" are above average.

A not well known gem:
I remember my dad playing the album on our old stereo. I was about 9 or so, and I can remember how much I loved "Let It Ride." I really didn't listen to the album completely until I was about 16, and I was "Blown" away. I thought that song rocked. I also thought that "Welcome Home" and "Stonegates" were pretty solid also. And this is without even mentioning "Takin Care of Business." I guess my point is that the album only had about 8 songs on it, and I thought that 6 of them were good. There aren't many groups out there today who could come up with that kind of effort. I'll bet if some of today's teens listened to this, they would like it.

A hint of greatness to come...:
BTO really put themselves on the musical map with this album - well known for the hit tracks "Let It Ride" and "Takin' Care of Business." There are other musical nuggets on this album to boot. I only wonder why some record company today doesn't have the current band in the studio pumping out new hard rock classics. BTO is a much better band than most of the ones that are out there now.

A good one from start to finish:
This really is a good lp, now cd. Bought this when it came out, and just loved it, still do. Sad it's the only one by them I can stand to listen to. As far as I can tell, You buy this one and you have their greatest hits.

• Blown
• Welcome Home
• Stonegates
• Let It Ride
• Give It Time
• Tramp
• I Don't Have to Hide
• Takin' Care of Business