The year after Joe Walsh left the James Gang he moved to Colorado, formed a new band with some old friends (which was called Barnstorm), and proceed to release a slew of albums which pursed the artistic directions that the James Gang hinted at, but could never fully explore. They are usually pigeon-holed into the "dust-bin of dirty, repetitive classic rock" - mainly because "Rocky Mountain Way", which led off the second album in this run, and became a hit - is the track which received the most notoriety from this period, but truth be told, Walsh and Barnstorm do not get enough credit for the dedication and craftsmanship they put into these records. They are also usually thought of as pure Walsh solo efforts, but here again, the real story is more complicated. Barnstorm was in fact a solid band with just about equal contributions from Walsh, Joe Vitale (main gig: drummer), and Kenny Passarelli (main gig: bass guitar). Walsh was the front-man, lead vocalist, and guitar-hero, but all three were everywhere playing multiple instruments and making different contributions, along with a small host of session musicians.
Listening to this and the subsequent Barnstorm releases, and it is immediately obvious, that Passarelli and Vitale are a serious upgrade over Jim Fox and Dale Peters, if only for the fact that now Walsh has people around who can help him elevate the sound and actually fulfill his and their ambitions. Barnstorm isn't really a concept album, but it feels like one, and the general message is - we're going West, expanding our horizons, playing with all of this space, and making the move the overarching story. And why not - isn't that a classic story in American folklore, anyway? The opener "Here We Go" is a slow-building, enveloping, early-morning awakening piece that is drenched in evocative synthesizer tones. It kicks off a first side of the album which is far more on the contemplative side of the fence. The twin centerpieces are a rather cinematic, documentary-type of instrumental called "Giant Bohemoth", followed by "Mother Says", another slow-rolling and developing avalanche of snow which gloriously erupts towards the end of its' run-time, cumulating a near-perfect side of music.
The second side is a slight letdown from the strange, yet oddly enchanting mood which the first side established, although still holds interest. Second from last is the only true rocker on this collection, "Turn to Stone", but that is pushing things, and anyway, the real attraction here is how the band makes that riff sound lonelier and lonelier each time they play it, until it feels like it echoes through some long lost canyon. Beyond the fact that there are some really good songs here, where Barnstorm wins you over is in the atmosphere department, which borders on the indescribable at many intervals here. Which makes sense, because there isn't really a lot of songs here to speak of, either, and the emphasis is on atmosphere. The next album would take a bit of a different tact.
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