- Russ Ballard -- vocals, guitar

- Mo Foster -- bass

- Simon Phillips -- drums, percussion

- Greg Sanders -- keyboards

- Argent

- The Daybreakers

- Adam Faith and the Roulettes

- Unit Four Plus Two

Genre: rock

Rating: *** (3 stars)

Title:  Barnet Dogs

Company: Epic

Catalog: 36186

Year: 1979

Country/State: William Cross, UK

Grade (cover/record): VG / VG

Comments: original inner sleeve

Available: 1

GEMM catalog ID: 5385

Price: $15.00

Co-produced by Russ Ballard and Joe Stanley, 1979's "Barnet Dogs"  found Ballard plunging headlong into late-1970s AOR.  Normally that wouldn't be much of a compliment, but as always Ballard was smart enough to ensure he placed maximum emphasis on strong melodies.  As Ballard described the album in his online blog 'we wanted to make a high energy LP'.  Showcasing all original material, guitar and synthesizer propelled songs such as 'Rene Didn't Do It', 'Ain't No Turning Back' and 'It's To Late' were perfectly built for top-40 radio exposure.  The unfortunate downside was that the album was largely anonymous.  Anyone hearing a song such as 'Riding with the Angels' would have been hard pressed to distinguish Ballard from the likes of Rainbow, Whitesnake, or the dozens of other 'hair bands' that were beginning to dominate the airwaves.  Among the few exceptions, 'Bad Boy' stood out in that it found Ballard trying to mix a reggae beat with hard rock.  Probably the album's best song, 'On the Rebound' b/w 'The Angels' (Epic catalog number 9-50883) was released as a single providing Ballard with his first and last US solo chart single (# 58).  The parent LP also charted, hitting # 187 on the US charts.  The set certainly had it's moments, but to a large extent it sounded like music as product - a little too fine tuned for my tastes.

French picture sleeve EPC8666

"Barnet Dogs" track listing:
(side 1)

1.) Rene Didn't Do It   (Russ Ballard) - 

2.) Ain't No Turning Back   (Russ Ballard) - 

3.) Bad Boy   (Russ Ballard) - 

4.) On the Rebound   (Russ Ballard) - 

5.) She Said "Yeah"   (Russ Ballard) - 

(side 2)

1.) It's To Late   (Russ Ballard) - 

2.) Feels Like the Real Thing   (Russ Ballard) - 

3.) Riding with the Angels   (Russ Ballard) - 

4.) Beware   (Russ Ballard) - 

For anyone interested, Ballard has a great website located at:

http://www.russ-ballard.com/

Genre: rock

Rating: ** (2 stars)

Title:  Russ Ballard

Company: EMI America

Catalog: ST-17108

Year: 1984

Country/State: William Cross, UK

Grade (cover/record): VG  /VG

Comments: original inner sleeve

Available: 1

GEMM catalog ID: 4552

Price: $10.00

Cost: $66.00

Co-produced by Ballard and Joe Stanley, 1984's cleverly-titled "Russ Ballard" wasn't bad in a mid-1980s AOR way ...  That may have sounded kind of snotty, but it was\n't meant as a slam.  Featuring eight original tracks, material such as 'I Can't Hear You No More', 'A Woman Like You' and 'Two Silhouettes' had the kind of radio-ready pop-metal that thrived on mid-1980s radio.  Ballard himself was a more than competent singer and backed by a tight band (including drummer Simon Phillips), pretty much any of these eight tracks would have sounded dandy on your local radio station.  That's probably why Kiss' Ace Frehley grabbed 'In the Night' for one of his solo albums.  (For goodness sakes, I'd rather hear 'Voices' than something from Journey or REO Speedwagon.)  After it was featured in a Miami Vice episode, Epic actually tapped 'Voices' as a single b/w 'Living without You' (Epic catalog number B204).

Hopefully Ballard won't mind, but I lifted a couple of his own comments about the LP from his website:

UK picture sleeve Epic catalog number EA-185

Courtesy of YouTube here's a link to the 'Voices' video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_yiaQ2BqMw&feature=related

"Russ Ballard" track listing:
(side 1)

1.) I Can't Hear You No More   (Russ Ballard) - 5:52

2.) In the Night   (Russ Ballard) - 4:09

3.) Two Silhouettes   (Russ Ballard) - 4:19

4.) Voices   (Russ Ballard) - 5:34

(side 2)

1.) A Woman Like You   (Russ Ballard) - 4:26

2.) Day To Day   (Russ Ballard) - 3:53

3.) Playing with Fire   (Russ Ballard) - 5:09

4.) The Last Time   (Russ Ballard) - 5:27