Unknown Soldier

Overview
According to one source I saw, Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s third album Not Fragile was a play on the Yes album Fragile released a few years earlier, basically meaning that this album was not fragile in any way. Not Fragile was the third album by the mid-western band Bachman-Turner Overdrive, but they weren’t American mid-western but Canadian mid-western (is there any difference!) By the time of their third album, they had already made their commercial breakthrough on their previous two albums, the eponymous debut Bachman-Turner Overdrive with its fusion of Southern rock Lynyrd Skynyrd and American hard rock a la Grand Funk Railroad and Mountain. This album had been a decent debut despite lacking in a few areas. But it was their second album the imaginatively titled Bachman-Turner Overdrive II which despite being an inferior album to the debut, that actually gave them their first top 10 album success in the US album charts. This album would serve as a launchpad for their third album Not Fragile, which would turn out to be the biggest and best album of their career. Bachman-Turner Overdrive essentially put out a no-nonsense brand of hard rock, blended with a then contemporary American sound and moulded into a really crunchy rock sound with a healthy amount of rock anthems, as far as the singles charts were concerned. Throughout the 1970s they sold an amazing seven million albums, whilst representing the first of what would be known as ‘faceless’ North American bands of the 1970s. These were basically bands that put their music well before their image and band members were often hidden behind long hair and beards, just think Kansas and you have it in a nutshell! The band as the name might suggest, were made up by the three Bachman brothers Randy, Robbie and Tim (Tim had left though by the third album) and the quartet was made up of Fred Turner or just known as C.F Turner. The Bachman brothers and C.F Turner seemed to have an equal share when it came to writing the band’s material and both Randy and C.F shared the band’s vocals. The band were so faceless that their best known song “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” which is often regarded as one of the great rock anthems of the 1970s, as being one of those songs where the vast majority of listeners having no idea which band sang the song! The band were something of a religious brood and therefore never embraced the true rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle which may have alienated them at the time from the majority of listeners into heavy music.

C.F Turner- Bass/Vocals
Blair Thornton- Guitar
Robbie Bachman- Drums
Production- Randy Bachman

Album
Not Fragile- With a bass heavy intro and C.F Turner on vocals, this is a song that lays down the tone for much of the album and there’s no doubting the band’s credentials here. Rock Is My Life and This Is My Song- The volume comes down for this song and it’s almost Dylanesque start gradually gives way to some free rockin’ tunes. Roll on Down the Highway- With an almost classic sounding intro we hit heavy material again courtesay of C.F Turner and elements of this song if listened to carefully feature on Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain” You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet- The band’s most famous song and a classic tune from the era in general. A song most people have heard of but probably don’t know who the artist is. Free Wheelin’- A very competent and accomplished instrumental, that was dedicated to the memory of Duane Allman and an instrumental that I never get bored with. Sledgehammer- A heavy and bombastic intro which is then broken up by quieter and then stronger moments. The song maintains this pace constantly throughout. Blue Moanin- Basically a good ole boy song with some nice guitar touches but not my cup of tea really. Second Hand- A heavy sounding workout that stands as one of the strongest tracks on the album. Givin’ it All Away- Not the best song to close to album, but it’s obvious that this song was going to be one of the later tracks on the album, it has that feel about it.

Verdict
There’s no doubting the scope of this album as soon as you hear the boisterous opener the title track “Not Fragile”. This is a bass heavy hard-rock romp that still sounds tight and relevant today, but it should be noted that not all the heavy songs have aged well. For the most part “Roll on Down the Highway” is a great heavy number that has a somewhat cheesy sounding glam rock section, that is strangely embedded into the song. But if the listener can ignore this, there is some great guitar on this song and great heavy playing in general, and then there is “Second Hand” one of the best songs on the whole album. The band then contrast the heaviness of songs like “Not Fragile” with the much more melodic and quieter tracks like “Rock Is My Life and This Is my Song”. The band also show just how good they are at mixing melody and tunefulness into the same song with hard biting rock, and this mixture doesn’t get any better than the album’s most famous song “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” which mixes in Van Morrison type pop sensibilities with Free era “It’s Alright Now” giving us one of the essential rock anthems of the decade. “Sledgehammer” also mixes in these attributes to great effect as well, and give balance to the album. Downsides to the album, include the odd touch of what I call ‘good ole boy’ country style influences, which make themselves evident now and again on the band’s discography and on this album they are highlighted on “Blue Moanin” and sections of “Givin’ It All Away”. Bands like Bachman-Turner Overdrive were often not seen as being cool to like, but Not Fragile displays some really authentic sounding crunchy guitar and a bass heavy plodding sound to back it all up. This faceless band prove that they don’t need the sexuality of Led Zeppelin or the theatrics of Kiss to pull in the fans and were one of the first arena rock bands around. Overall Not Fragile is one of the heaviest albums of the year which might surprise some readers, as the band were not often remembered as being ‘heavy beasts’ by the rock world, but more of an arena rock band from their era.

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