Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Japanese Mini LP Collection (1973-1975) [5x SHM-CD '2013]

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Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Japanese Mini LP Collection (1973-1975) [5x SHM-CD '2013]

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Following his 1970 departure from the Guess Who, guitarist Randy Bachman recorded a solo album (Axe) and planned a project with ex-Nice keyboardist Keith Emerson (later canceled due to illness) before forming Bachman-Turner Overdrive in 1972. Originally called "Brave Belt," the metal group was comprised of singer/guitarist Bachman, fellow Guess Who alum Chad Allan, bassist C.F. "Fred" Turner, and Randy's brother, drummer Robbie; after a pair of LPs (Brave Belt I and Brave Belt II), Allan was replaced by another Bachman brother, guitarist Tim, and in homage to the trucker's magazine Overdrive, the unit became BTO.

While their self-titled 1973 debut caused little impact in the U.S. or the band's native Canada, Bachman-Turner Overdrive II was a smash, netting a hit single with the anthemic "Takin' Care of Business." Prior to the release of 1974's Not Fragile, Tim Bachman exited the group to begin a career in production, and was replaced by Blair Thornton; the album was a chart-topping success, and notched a number one single with "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet."

After 1977's Freeways, Randy Bachman left the group for a solo career and formed another group, Ironhorse. Bachman-Turner Overdrive continued on in his absence with replacement Jim Clench for two more albums, Street Action and Rock n' Roll Nights (both 1978), eventually changing their name to simply BTO. At the tail-end of the decade, the band dissolved, but in the 1980s they re-grouped to tour as both Bachman-Turner Overdrive (led by Randy) and BTO (led by Robbie); the ensuing confusion the name game triggered ultimately resulted in Randy Bachman filing suit against his one-time bandmates for rights to the group's logo.

_____________ Bachman-Turner Overdrive Mini-LP Collection 1973-1975 contains: _____________

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Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Japanese Mini LP Collection (1973-1975) [5x SHM-CD '2013]

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Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Bachman-Turner Overdrive (1973/2013) [UICY-75687]
FLAC with CUE & LOG - 248 MB | 36:54 mins | MP3 CBR 320 Kbps - 84 MB

allmusic.com says: Ben Davies called Bachman-Turner Overdrive's first album a "fusion of Lynyrd Skynyrd-style Southern/trucker rock and ZZ Top's anthemic arena rock," and with their logo imprinted in a big metallic gear which looks like it inspired James Cameron's Terminator trademark, Randy Bachman, his brothers Tim and Robbie, and C.F. Turner dish out a methodical mix of plodding hard dirges. They took the Brave Belt beginnings and followed them to the harder extremes, a focus on blue-collar working men's music without the swagger of Michigan's Grand Funk Railroad. Taking a cue from Leslie West's Great Fatsby persona, much like the Guess Who at this point in time, Bachman-Turner Overdrive let it all hang out, choosing a sloppy "everyman" image for their stage look. It wasn't a pretty sight, nor is the music enhanced with any decorations; the discipline of Jack Richardson, who clearly had his hands full with Burton Cummings' control of Randy Bachman's previous group, was forsaken for Bachman's vision, for better or for worse. Like the 1984 reunion/finale on Compleat/Polygram, also entitled Bachman-Turner Overdrive, this is a very consistent set with no hits and a focus on bottom-heavy sounds. Not heavy metal, more like molten metal, oozing and dripping without the high-energy ZZ Top and Led Zeppelin injected into their driving numbers. Bachman-Turner Overdrive is rocking here in the sitting position even on an up-tempo opener, "Gimme Your Money Please," one of C.F. Turner's best contributions to the Bachman-Turner Overdrive catalog. But Tim Bachman's "Down and out Man" does have the seeds of "Takin' Care of Business," and it is the cleverness of journeyman brother Randy that crafted this enterprise, continually shaping it. The gatefold's side-view mirror images of the band in an automobile junkyard sums up what the music is all about. Fans of both Bachman-Turner Overdrive and the Guess Who had good reason to complain. Had Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman pooled their efforts, the Guess Who would have been a North American powerhouse. Three decades after this music's release, the reconstituted Guess Who plays hits from both bands, but the worst excesses of these artists were put on public display, with some of the klunkers recorded by both Bachman-Turner Overdrive and the Guess Who. Four of the eight tunes on this debut are from Randy Bachman's pen, and though there is nothing as dynamic as their first hit, "Let It Ride," on this debut, there are none of the bad tracks found on future discs which hit the proverbial brick wall. C.F. Turner's "Blue Collar" is a harbinger of "Looking out for #1" from 1975's Head On, and this debut sets the tone for the success that would follow.

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Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Japanese Mini LP Collection (1973-1975) [5x SHM-CD '2013]

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Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Bachman-Turner Overdrive II (1973/2013) [UICY-75688]
FLAC with CUE & LOG - 271 MB | 39:05 mins | MP3 CBR 320 Kbps - 88 MB

allmusic.com says: Released when Mercury Records was still located in Chicago, IL, back in 1973, the second album from Bachman-Turner Overdrive was the first to break through in a big way. First the hit single "Let It Ride" went Top 25 circa March of 1974, then the anthem "Taking Care of Business" went Top 15 the summer of that year. By October they would top the charts with "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" from the follow-up LP, 1974's Not Fragile, but their seven chart songs were all made possible by this album and these two songs, "Let It Ride" and "Takin' Care of Business," in particular. "Let It Ride" features one of C.F. Turner's best vocals; keeping that gargle-with-Draino diesel sound down to a minimum, the song has two major guitar riffs, one a strum, the other from Led Zeppelin's 1970 "Immigrant Song," an inverted mutation of Randy Bachman's own "American Woman" riff which also hit in 1970. That "Takin' Care of Business," which was written solely by Randy Bachman and contains his vocals, as well as the Turner/Bachman co-write "Let It Ride" are light years ahead of the other six songs on this album is an understatement. Putting their minds to it and crafting hooky, radio-friendly music was something Bachman and Turner were quite capable of, but Tim Bachman's voice and writing on "Blown" and "I Don't Have to Hide" leave much to be desired. Randy Bachman sings on "Tramp," co-written with drummer Robbie Bachman, and "Welcome Home," both songs having the merit that he always cleverly injects, while "Stonegates" and "Give It Time" are total C.F. Turner singing his heavy essays. By the time Randy Bachman departed for 1978's Street Action and 1979's Rock N' Roll Nights, Turner's music was really all that was left, and it never progressed from these sludgy workouts. What is most fascinating about Bachman-Turner Overdrive II and the Guess Who's #10 is that both Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings were showing their propensity for self-indulgence. Without the balance each provided the other, Bachman's "Tramp" and Cummings' "Glamour Boy" failed to climb the charts substantially. Bachman-Turner Overdrive and the Bachman-less Guess Who both got seven songs each onto the Top 40 (with the Guess Who actually accruing six additional songs which should have got onto mainstream radio), all found on The Best of the Guess Who, Vol. 2. Still, Randy Bachman's work and musical intuition cannot be denied, and when he chose to chart, he did so in a big way. The two hits on this album and their follow-up, "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet," are staples on classic rock radio. the Guess Who went further into a light, poppy direction while Randy Bachman and company descended into heavy depths, the schizophrenia so obvious when listening to a disc like Bachman-Turner Overdrive II.

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Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Japanese Mini LP Collection (1973-1975) [5x SHM-CD '2013]

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Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Not Fragile (1974/2013) [UICY-75689]
FLAC with CUE & LOG - 239 MB | 36:26 mins | MP3 CBR 320 Kbps - 85 MB

allmusic.com says: After gaining some recognition from the success of the band's previous album, Bachman-Turner Overdrive got around to recording Not Fragile. Not only had one of the three Bachman brothers (Tim, the rhythm guitarist) left the band to BTO's advantage, but Randy Bachman and C.F. Turner had clearly grown musically. To the album's benefit, most of the material on Not Fragile are the band's much-liked rock anthems, ranging from the hyper-distorted title track, through the famous but far more timid song "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet." Indeed, for hard rock fanatics, it doesn't come much better than on Not Fragile. Randy's electrifying lead guitar is here more raucous than ever before, as are his rowdy vocals (particularly noticeable on the predictable, but fun "Sledgehammer"). The man steals the show on Not Fragile through his extensive and often astounding guitar solos. Generally, though, Bachman-Turner Overdrive are at their prime as a whole, both in songwriting and playing terms. As regards the mixing, it's hard to find fault with this release. The drums are clear but not so prominent that they dominate the recording, while the guitars, along with the bass, are kept rigidly in their place. Not Fragile is one of the finest arena rock albums of the era, featuring all the hallmarks of what makes a classic release in the genre. Randy's impressive guitar work and typically boisterous vocals complement the overall framework of the album superbly, as do the crunchy rhythm guitars. This release will astound fans of the genre and band, while those thoroughly against stadium rock may find something to convert their views.

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Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Japanese Mini LP Collection (1973-1975) [5x SHM-CD '2013]

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Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Four Wheel Drive (1975/2013) [UICY-75690]
FLAC with CUE & LOG - 237 MB | 33:55 mins | MP3 CBR 320 Kbps - 77 MB

allmusic.com says: Bachman-Turner Overdrive's Four Wheel Drive album is most often overlooked, mainly because all of the attention was focused on the singable "na na na naa"'s of one of B.T.O.'s biggest hits in "Hey You." But the rest of the album is made up of the band's lunch-pail rock & roll sound, combining ample amounts of factory-made blues to street-dirty guitar rock. Although it can't really hold a candle to Not Fragile, B.T.O.'s best album, there's still a fair amount of well-played radio rock to hold Four Wheel Drive up. "Hey You" gave B.T.O. their second last Top 40 hit, peaking at number 21 and reaching number five in Canada, but tracks like "Flat Broke Love," "She's Keeping Time," and "Don't Let the Blues Get You Down" are attractive arena rock efforts with both Bachman's Randy and Robbie sounding like they're still involved wholeheartedly. "Lowland Fling" and "Quick Change Artist" may be the album's weakest attempts, but, on a grander scale, Four Wheel Drive eventually became the last solid endeavor by the group. Tim Bachman left after Bachman-Turner Overdrive II to try his luck at producing, and, in 1977, Randy Bachman went off to do some solo work, leading up to his formation of the band Ironhorse. B.T.O. fell apart after this, and the albums that followed contained little if any of their accustomed, belt-driven rock & roll. Best of all, Four Wheel Drive doesn't offer up any changes or surprises, and an expected eight tracks of guitar-based rock is truly what you get.

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Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Japanese Mini LP Collection (1973-1975) [5x SHM-CD '2013]

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Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Head On (1975/2013) [UICY-75691]
FLAC with CUE & LOG - 302 MB | 42:34 mins | MP3 CBR 320 Kbps - 94 MB

allmusic.com says: This is near the end of the Bachman-Turner Overdrive story, one of the group's last albums to feature Randy Bachman. Bachman's dominance of the group is apparent – his face alone fills the front cover, he produced the record, and he wrote or co-wrote five of the nine songs. His unhappiness is apparent, too: listen to him sing, "I feel there's no use in hanging around" on the lead-off track, "Find Out About Love," and plead, "I'm an average man, but my name is in lights" in "Average Man." By the time you get to the cocktail jazz ballad "Lookin' Out For #1" (BTO's sole entry on the easy listening chart), you can tell he's not including the group. By the time of BTO's next album, Bachman was gone, and their hit-making days were behind them.