Firehouse - any fans?

I have known of Firehouse and some of their singles for some time but for some reason collecting their albums was never a high priority for me.

When I recently got Spotify (yeah I recall not being in favour of it initially...) I started listening to various 80s glam bands I had previously overlooked. Bands I know of but maybe never really felt compelled to properly experience their albums. Firehouse was one of those bands I discovered more of through Spotify and I immediately ordered their first 2 albums (about the only ones I could find).

I feel Firehourse were too late to the party. By the time their debut album was released the market was flooded with similar bands and interest in this genre had started to wane down. In any case, Firehouse does rock and it is unfair they weren't given more of a chance. I also think giving them the tag 'glam metal' is a bit short-sighted. Yes some of their singles tend to have that big hair arena anthem vibe but listening to their albums it is apparent to me they are more of a hard rock band - they can write some great ballads, some great rockers and deliver a well rounded package without necessarily following any trends.

Again through Spotify I listened to some of their more 'recent' albums - by that I mean late 90s releases. Feeling skeptical at first, I thought they would have drastically changed their sound to fit in with the grunge-alt-rock scene but thankfully that is not the case. Even their newer releases retain that 80s sound to some extent sounding slightly more 'mature'.

In all, if you liked 80s glam back then, Firehouse's earlier releases are not too far from the mark and whilst still a bit poppy sounding they can also deliver a more mature vibe than some of their scene peers.

Give these guys a chance if you haven't - of course if 80s glam is not your thing this ain't gonna do anything but further your dislike for these type of bands.

For the record - no [I have a REPUTATATION, you know??]. But a friend of mine paid 4K to have them play his wedding reception, and I was impressed with thier professionalism - and they even got the old folks jacked up. I guess I like that one song - Twist and Tumble or shake and rumble or something like that.

Rock On The Radio, Lover's Lane, Home Is Where The Heart is, all great tracks. I saw them with Tesla back in the day. The first 2 albums are great but as you said just a few years past where they needed to be.

The Self Titled album is the best they've done in my opinion.Some great songs on there.

Good band...good live...first 2 albums are go-to, but the others have some good material on them.

I have their first album and dig it but never bothered with anything afterwards.

I had their acoustic album at one point, but I found it very boring. I ditched it and never looked back. The other stuff I've heard from them was a little too fluffy for my tastes.

Ok at times, a little light for me.

I do like the few tunes I heard form them, but never heard a whole album of their's in it's entirety.

I personally LOVE Firehouse. While they have made their sound more modern, they have not traded in their ideals to keep up with current trends. Every album that they have released is great, tho I still think that the first 3 albums are the best.

I like the first two albums, and ive heard good things about "Prime Time". Everything else isnt all that great IMO.

Hadley wrote:

I like the first two albums, and ive heard good things about "Prime Time". Everything else isnt all that great IMO.

Prime Time has 2 good songs on it...the rest is either weak or stupid...haha! O2 has a few cool tunes, but also falls flat. Category 5 is their most diverse stylistically, and most fans don't like it for that reason, but it has more good songs than those 2 put together.

My wife and I danced our first dance at our wedding to "Love of A Lifetime". Might get played a lot, but I definitely still dig it.

Their first two albums are really good. I have heard some of the stuff beyond those albums, and like it too, just not as much.

I liked the first 2 albums. I have to admit I didn't keep up with them as much after those 2 albums. When I first started getting into clubs to see shows you couldn't go to one without at least one of the guys from the band there hanging out and handing out flyers. I still have one put away when they were called White Heat.

I really like the first two and the rest of them are decent. I actually prefer Hold Your Fire to the S/T.

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Hadley wrote:

I like the first two albums, and ive heard good things about "Prime Time". Everything else isnt all that great IMO.

Prime Time has 2 good songs on it...the rest is either weak or stupid...haha! O2 has a few cool tunes, but also falls flat. Category 5 is their most diverse stylistically, and most fans don't like it for that reason, but it has more good songs than those 2 put together.

I disagree. While I think Hold Your Fire is their best album, I don't think they've put out any bad albums. Prime Time, I think, is excellent, as is Category 5. Easily my second favorite. O2 is good, but damn it if "The Dark" isn't the worst song they've ever recorded. Dreadful, that one. The acoustic album is totally non-essential, but not horrible; it just doesn't rock enough.

I quite like Firehouse, but being a MHR/AOR fan, is that any wonder?

The first two are the best. Album named 3 was okay but to many slow songs. They have a cool live album and i like H2O. They never have been a glam band but a melodic hard rock band like SLAUGHTER, STEELHEART or BABYLON A.D.

krokus wrote:

The first two are the best. Album named 3 was okay but to many slow songs. They have a cool live album and i like H2O. They never have been a glam band but a melodic hard rock band like SLAUGHTER, STEELHEART or BABYLON A.D.

Agreed!

I would venture to add Tesla to that list as well.

Never was much of a fan, but Michal Foster was in my fantasy football league in the mid 90s. I worked with his brother. Cool guy.

jettafiend wrote:

krokus wrote:

The first two are the best. Album named 3 was okay but to many slow songs. They have a cool live album and i like H2O. They never have been a glam band but a melodic hard rock band like SLAUGHTER, STEELHEART or BABYLON A.D.

Agreed!

I would venture to add Tesla to that list as well.

Yes, TESLA would be okay and even BADLANDS only this two bands had their roots more in the 70s heavy rock during some of their songs.

Whether or not a band is glam really depends on how you define glam and how comfortable you are with the term.

The sort of style that bands like RATT, Slaughter, Tesla, Firehouse etc played has been lumped in the 'glam metal' category but that is only really to describe the vibe of these bands: party, carefree, summertime fun kinda bands. If you were to analyze the sound and style of each of the bands I listed (and many others) you'd find they all sound different. No brainer there.

That's what I mean by how comfortable you feel with the tag, 'glam metal'. I think as a whole, bands started to be liberally categorized as glam after MTV had stopped playing the likes of Motley Crue, RATT, Poison on continuous rotation. It started being used in a pejorative sense to denote bands that dressed like women, used a truckload of hairspray, and played arena anthems.

In dismissing 'glam metal' people just focused on the image rather than the substance of those bands' music, which is a great shame and injustice because in my eyes albums by RATT or Bulletboys or Shotgun Messiah have withstood the test of time and still sound more fun and enjoyable than any 2 decade old grunge and alt-rock albums - imo those bands aged more than the 'glam' ones.

I realize grunge wasn't the only critic of glam metal - many other sub-genres of metal took a strong dislike to glam too, of course with its prime arch nemesis being thrash metal (well before grunge even burst onto the scene). In any case, I think it just comes down to personal preference - I think glam rocks and I can listen to it alongside any other thrash, black, death, whatever metal band; ultimately, it is all about the quality of the band not which sub-genre they fit in.

Alex Dee Rokket wrote:

it is all about the quality of the band not which sub-genre they fit in.

QFT

I like Firehouse. Their first two albums are great and the rest have a few good songs on them.

Alex Dee Rokket wrote:

Whether or not a band is glam really depends on how you define glam and how comfortable you are with the term.

The sort of style that bands like RATT, Slaughter, Tesla, Firehouse etc played has been lumped in the 'glam metal' category but that is only really to describe the vibe of these bands: party, carefree, summertime fun kinda bands. If you were to analyze the sound and style of each of the bands I listed (and many others) you'd find they all sound different. No brainer there.

That's what I mean by how comfortable you feel with the tag, 'glam metal'. I think as a whole, bands started to be liberally categorized as glam after MTV had stopped playing the likes of Motley Crue, RATT, Poison on continuous rotation. It started being used in a pejorative sense to denote bands that dressed like women, used a truckload of hairspray, and played arena anthems.

In dismissing 'glam metal' people just focused on the image rather than the substance of those bands' music, which is a great shame and injustice because in my eyes albums by RATT or Bulletboys or Shotgun Messiah have withstood the test of time and still sound more fun and enjoyable than any 2 decade old grunge and alt-rock albums - imo those bands aged more than the 'glam' ones.

I realize grunge wasn't the only critic of glam metal - many other sub-genres of metal took a strong dislike to glam too, of course with its prime arch nemesis being thrash metal (well before grunge even burst onto the scene). In any case, I think it just comes down to personal preference - I think glam rocks and I can listen to it alongside any other thrash, black, death, whatever metal band; ultimately, it is all about the quality of the band not which sub-genre they fit in.

For me, glam metal is a mix between hard rock/soft metal and a image with loads of makeup. Bands like TIGERTAILZ, early POISON, LONDON, DIAMOND REXX are glam metal bands in my opinion and SLAUGHTER, WINGER, BULLETBOYS, WARRANT hard rock, or melodic hard rock.
I always love thrash too and i know what you are talking about. Their always have been a hate between those genre fans. I never carred about that. If a band has traditional influences (no grunge, alternative or smurf poo like that influences), a strong metal/hard rock image and the right attitude than i listen to them (also they need to write good songs of course ).