Helix’s earlier albums weren’t as ‘timber-wolved’ as efforts by fellow Canucks Bachman Turner Overdrive, Iron horse and Trooper, there’s an appreciable amount of melody here with just the right amount of guitar grunt to make it interesting.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Helix
ALBUM: Breaking Loose
LABEL: H&S
SERIAL: HS101
YEAR: 1979
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada
LINEUP: Brian Vollmer – vocals * Brent Doerner – guitar * Brian Doerner – drums * Paul Hackman – guitar * Mike Uzelac – bass
TRACK LISTING: 01 I Could Never Leave * 02 Don’t Hide Your Love * 03 Down In The City * 04 Crazy Women * 05 Billy Oxygen * 06 Here I Go Again * 07 You’re A Woman Now * 08 Wish I Could Be There
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
I’d have to thank long time Legs Diamond fanatic John Watson for first putting me onto Canadian legends Helix, long before they become popular. John managed to string together a few Helix highlights on cassette way back in 1981 for me, including some important moments from their 1979 affair ‘Breaking Loose’. It was clear to me from those early days just how much promise this band had, which was justified only a few short years later.
Helix’s earlier albums weren’t as ‘timber-wolved’ as efforts by fellow Canucks Bachman Turner Overdrive, Ironhorse and Trooper. There’s an appreciable amount of melody here with just the right amount of guitar grunt to make it interesting. It might get a bit of flak for being under-produced, but to be fair, it was their debut, and Helix did power it up somewhat during their MTV years when signed to Capitol.
The Songs
Certainly entertaining songs such as the duet of ‘Billy Oxygen’ and ‘Here I Go Again’ are simply wonderful tunes, which I always keep going back to. The power ballad ‘You’re A Woman Now’ also gets the energy happening.
There’s a bit of acoustic guitar which introduces songs such as ‘Down In The City’ and the spacey and ethereal ‘Wish I Could Be There’, which are both quite majestic sounding. ‘Don’t Hide Your Love’ is about as agricultural as Helix sound on this set, while ‘Crazy Women’ gets down and dirty, though hardly inoffensive!
In Summary
This is only an eight-tracker, but there’s enough here to get enthused about. This album, along with its H&S partner album ‘White Lace And Black Leather’ (1981) did see the light on CD, as part of a twofer in 1991 called ‘Helix – The Early Years’. This is still available on Perris Records catalog should anyone wish to investigate purchasing this.
And if, like me, you like a bit of traditional Canuck rock or otherwise known as mapleleaf metal (as with other reviews here by the likes of Painter, Rose, BTO, Trooper and many more), then early Helix is your bag.
Video
Entire Album (Select Tracks)
