shopaholic_man's Full Review: The Runaways by The Runaways
Long before boy bands were invented, back in the early days of heavy metal, all the way back in 1975 a group of girls got together to form a rock'n'roll band. Yes, back when they were still teenagers, Joan Jett, Lita Ford, Sandy West, Micky Steel and Cherie Currie formed the very first all female hard rock band, The Runaways. Yes, the Joan Jett, now of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and the Lita Ford that had a rock solo career and has sung with such rock icons as Ozzy Osbourne.
So lets get into the Heavy Metal Way Back Machine to 1975 and check out the Runaways!
Runaways was the debut album by The Runaways, released in 1975. The first song is actually one that Joan Jett made popular again in the 80s, Cherry Bomb. The song was sort of a joke since the lead singer / keyboard player was named Cherie. The lyrics are delivered almost sardonically, the typical bad girl telling off her parents Hello Dad, Hello Mom, I'm your Ch ch ch Cherry Bomb! It actually still holds up as a fun song to listen to 30 plus years later.
On songs like Rock and Roll, you can hear a young Joan Jett singing her teenage heart out on this Lou Reed cover tune. She started dancing to that fine fine music Her life was saved by rock and roll.
Blackmaildespite having a terribly generic bland sound to it, actually features a bit of Lita Ford soloing on the guitar. Other songs like Secrets are just absolutely terrible! They scream out the chorus and whisper other parts of the song. Quiet turn out the lights, if we get caught just deny it. It's so bad it's almost sort of funny.
The girls have fun posturing and playing the role of "bad girls". The songs final song Dead End JusticeI'm a blond bombshell and I wear it well You're momma says you go straight to hell I'm sweet sixteen and a rebel queen I look real hot in my tight blue jeans. If the posturing lyrics weren't funny enough, the song goes on to desribe the girls eventual landing in juvenile, set to a marching drum beat. Overall, the album sounds like a parody of the seventies rock sound. You can definitely hear the roots of Joan Jett and Lita Ford in the band's sound, it's just much more raw and underdeveloped. As I listened to it, I felt lilke I was watching some cheesy 80's screwball comedy and these were the songs on the soundtrack. The musicianship on this album is pretty raw, noone has really developed much. Keep in mind that the girls here were in fact just girls when this was recorded, and there was no AutoTune, or studio tricks to make a mediocre band sound great. I did read on Wikipedia, that the bass parts were redone because the record producer hated the bass. It reminded me of a Metalocalypse joke wherin Swisgar would always go in and redub Murderface's bass lines for Dethclok.
I've been listening to some of my old old music, and some of it is almost funny to listen to now. Some takes me back and think yeah this was great stuff, and still sounds good today. The Runaways made me think back and wonder if anyone ever took them seriously, even if they took themselves seriously.
Song List
Cherry Bomb / You Drive Me Wild / Is it Day or Night /Thunder / Rock n' Roll / Lovers / American Nights / Blackmail / Secrets / Dead End Justice
Summary
The Runaways debut album was so bad it was actually sort of good. I gave it two stars. It was funny in its own way and an amusing look back into the seventies. I would only recommend it for laughs or for anyone who really wants to hear what Joan Jett or Lita Ford sounded like way back when.
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