One little album deserving to be discovered is “Boulder“, the 1979’s self-titled debut from BOULDER reissued by Wounded Bird Records. Boulder was the first major band of a young and future Melodic Rock icon called Stan Bush.
Blending melodic rock with FM oriented radio rock, Boulder style has all the trademarks found in later Stan Bush’s solo material. Produced by expert George Daly (Santana, The Cars), all here is really melodic, and does not sound outdated at all.
Feel good numbers like ‘Join Me In L.A.’, the Canadian sounding ‘A New Mr. Right’, the hard rocking ‘Winner Takes All’ and the AORish ‘Heartbeat’ are among the best cuts in this short, but highly enjoyable record.
‘Turn The Radio Up’ speaks for itself, catchy and radio-ready, ‘Help Yourself’ rocks with a cool riff, then ‘For Love’ ends the record in an acoustical ballad mode, again, in a typical Stan Bush style.
All we know Stan Bush career after Boulder disbanded, but few have listened this, the band’s one and only record. “Boulder” is a strong melodic rock record, with a FM sound typical front the bands of the era like the very first Survivor, Foreigner, Cheap Trick, etc.
This Wounded Bird Records remaster is excellent, clear and ‘earthy’ with a warm output.
01 - Join Me In L.A.
02 - A New Mr. Right
03 - Winner Takes All
04 - Heartbeat
05 - Turn The Radio Up
06 - Travelin' Man
07 - Help Yourself
08 - For Love
Bob Harris - vocals
Stan Bush - guitars, vocals
Zeke Zirngiebel - guitars, bass, backing vocals
Marty Stinger - drums
Mithran Cabin - percussion, backing vocals
Todd McKinney - keyboards, backing vocals
Kim Stone - add. bass
BOULDER (Stan Bush) – Boulder [Wounded Bird remaster] 2010