CD Review: Loverboy -- Just Getting Started

I am that guy that still likes 80's music so much that he buys new CDs these bands are putting out today. 99.9% of the time I download them, am appalled by what I hear, and delete them immediately from my memory and my hard drive. So when I heard that Loverboy had I new CD out I knew what I had to do... listen to it and mock it incessantly.

So I received the new Loverboy album Just Getting Started on Tuesday and have been reviewing it ever since. I must say that as I opened the jewel case, the first thing that struck me was a French fry that fell-out and landed on my lap. The next thing I noticed was a greasy fingerprint on the CD itself. Mike Reno must be assembling the CDs himself these days. Either that or it is a slick marketing tie-in to track #8 The One That Got Away and the song is about fast food and not relationships.

It would be easy to take shots at Mike’s weight gain for a few hundred words, and let’s face it; it’s not beneath me to do so. Sure, these days it would probably take two heifers to make a pair of red leather pants for Mike, but let’s be honest… we all have put on a little weight since our playing days. In fairness to Mike, he sounds amazing on the album. So does the band. In all honesty, if this were released 25 years ago it would be the number one album in the country, no doubt about it. Unfortunately, this is 2008 and only about 50 people in the world even know this thing came out.

This is the first album I have bought in five years that I don’t skip through. That’s right, I put the CD in the disc player and hit play. Almost every song is well-written and fun to listen to --- especially if you like to sing-along. If you don’t like soaring power ballads and up-tempo rockers, this ain’t for you. If you’re like me and you “need more cowbell,” then this is what you have been waiting for. I would love to know how many cowbells wore out in the studio. Cowbells are everywhere. At times I don’t hear the rest of the music because I am focused solely on cowbell usage.

I suppose I should pick out a few favorite songs to prove I have actually listened to it:
Just Getting Started: reminds me a hell of a lot of The Kid is Hot tonight – and that’s a good thing.
Fade to Black: A catchy little ditty that once in your mind will take days to get out
Real Thing: Such a well-produced song, you would swear that one of the American Idol producers worked on it. Imagine Loverboy with a choir. Now listen to it on this CD.
As Good As it Gets: The title says it all. It’s classic Loverboy with a twist.

There is a reason that this album has a higher customer review on Amazon.com than Loverboy’s Greatest Hits album does… because it may be better.