38 Special - Special Forces

This was the first album I bought by 38 Special. I had no idea that "Hold on Loosely" was a big deal, I just knew that the song was amazing. We had limited radio when I was a kid up north, and unless it was word of mouth or something I'd read about when browsing the magazines I was pretty sheltered.

When Special Forces dropped in '82 I snapped it up. Right off the bat the band was kicking in the door and "Caught Up in You" became my second favourite song by the band. The rest of the album then sort settled into a groove as one decent but not especially memorable song after another played.

Some of the songs were goofy, "Back Door Stranger" probably isn't a thinly veiled play on words. If it was it was way more subtle than Deep Purple was when they were singing about knocking on a back door. You can take the 12 year old out a teenager, but you can't take a 12 year old out of a teenager. No that wasn't a typo. Now while I'm being casually dismissive of the songs as being perfunctory rockers, the first side closed with a sleeper in "Chain Lightning" that shouldn't have been as good as it is. 

The second side was the side I didn't play as often, but it's cool hearing this now as it's actually got some really good songs. At the time some of credits, especially the songwriting credits didn't register. Now in my defence they're only on the centre of the album on Special Forces, so I'm giving myself a pass.

However, of the nine songs here, three were co-written by Jim Peterik who at the time was in Survivor and co-wrote their big songs. Jim also co-wrote "Hold on Loosely" and the songs he penned here, 

• "Caught Up in You" 
• "Chain Lightning" 
• "You Keep Runnin' Away"

are among the best tracks on the album. "You Keep Runnin' Away" seems to be deliberately trying to recreate elements of "Hold on Loosely" which kind of feel the same but is different. The song still fits with the overall sound. Nifty trick.

The interplay between Donnie Van Zant and Don Barnes is really good, and while it seems like Don got to front most the big hits, I have to sheepishly admit that it's hard to tell them apart at times. Yes, that's me the Luddite in the corner. 

This was a pretty solid album and while sometimes the songs may come across as hefty filler, when the band puts it all together the results are pretty friggin' spectacular. While this would be the band's biggest selling album it was smack in the middle of their platinum run with Wild-Eyed Southern Boys and Tour de Force.