09. Piper Piper 1976 (A&M)
Hard Rock
Rock meets candy in a melodic shuffle.
Overview
The band are best remembered for being a vehicle for future solo artist Billy Squier who was popular for a while in the 1980s with his brand of guitar based melodic hard rock. Billy Squier was originally in several bands in the early 1970s, including being in the Sidewinders with then future NY Dolls drummer Jerry Nolan, before going onto to form Piper in the mid-1970s. Musically the band had their stall well and truly set out by quickly bedding down with the sound that they wanted to put out, which was basically a hard rock meets glam rock style sound and with a strong eye on commercialism. Sadly for them commercial success wasn’t immediately on the cards and it took Billy Squier to go solo a few years later to achieve that aim. Their lack of success probably wasn’t through lack of trying or opportunities, as the band had plenty of exposure in the 1976 to 1977 period. They had served as an opening act for the likes of both Kiss and the Electric Light Orchestra at the time and their honest hard rock approach, with a dash of past hard rock icons and glam rock made them easy on the ear as well. Their debut album would certainly fall at the melodic end of the hard rock spectrum and has a surprising array of pop hooks as well, a style that would serve future solo artist Billy Squier quite well in the 1980s. Billy Squier himself was certainly one of a new breed of numerous guitarist/vocalists that would go solo in the second half of the 1970s in a trend that had already been set by the likes of Rick Derringer stateside. It was probable that the Rick Derringer debut may well have had an influence on the Piper debut as there are some similarities between the two albums and Billy Squier as an artist certainly proved to be more melodic and more refined than some of his nearest contemporaries such as Sammy Hagar or Ted Nugent. The album itself had a proven producer in John Anthony who had worked with some of the biggest names in the business in Van der Graaf Generator, Genesis, Roxy Music and Queen. The album itself certainly has his touch buried in the proceedings and it stands as a fair slice of hard rock candy.
Billy Squier- Guitar/Vocals
Alan Nolan- Guitar
Tommy Gunn- Guitar
Danny McGary- Bass
Richie Fontana- Drums
Production- John Anthony
Album
Out of Control- A solid album opener with a dominant vocal approach by frontman Billy Squier and the song really has a fairly infectious sound circa 1976!
What’cha Gonna Do?- One of the best tracks on the album with its accomplished mix of hard rock meets glam rock and does the business as they say.
The Road- One of the more accomplished songs on the album, which moves along quite nicely and ends with a hard rock workout near the end, an obvious choice for a single here.
Sail Away- On some of the songs there is a slight detection of a bluesy southern rock sound and this song is certainly one of those, but when Billy Squier’s vocals kick in that southern rock feel quickly disappears.
Who’s Your Boyfriend?(I Got a Feelin’)- A great example of the band’s pop sensibilities with this hooky bubble-gum style track.
Telephone Relation- Another obvious choice for a single here with its fuzzy backdrop.
Last Time- A cover of the Rolling Stones’ song and regarded as one of the lesser efforts on the album.
42nd Street- One of the hard rock centric numbers on the album and one of the best on the b-side of the album.
Can’t Live Without Ya (Can’t Live Without Ya)- A decent album closer to a steady album.
Verdict
In a year of medicocre debut albums, the Piper debut was certainly a cut above the rest despite its lack of originality. Piper to their credit though, gave us a cohesive sound across the breadth of an album with a fair amount of quality and with no obvious weaknesses The song compositions are lengthy for a band of their type and they do tend to drag here and there, but there is certainly a musical prowess by the band members to stay focused on the majority of the tracks. Billy Squier serves us up a Mick Jagger style approach and certainly adopts a cock-sure approach with his vocals and his singing shows surprisingly good range on most of the tracks. The musical arrangements of the band are tight overall and the album should appeal to both melodic hard rock fans of the era, as it would also to fans of the UK glam scene of the early 1970s as well. The strength of the Piper debut is that it stands out as a cut above the rest in what was a very average year, but in its defence the songs are tight and the band never get bogged down in trying to fill these songs out. Overall the compositions are mostly penned by Billy Squier, whose compositions were basic in their approach and with a strong eye on commercialism, but they also had infectious pop hooks that were given backbone with some hard rock muscle. Whilst the album is not essential in any way, it’s still an enjoyable listen for anybody into melodic hard rock of the era. I also saw on a website from a music reviewer at the time, calling this one of the best American debuts by a heavy band in the 1970s, all I can say is that opinion is extremely far-fetched…. but then again I’ve heard of lesser albums than this being handed out such great plaudits as well! Piper themselves were short lived and only managed to put out one more album after their debut and that was the inferior
Can’t Wait the following year.