707 came out of the 70s but truly no one had really heard of them until they linked themselves with the dreadful science fiction movie, Megaforce, by creating an album with that name plus the theme song and a few other tunes for the flick. This gave them some radio play and the name kind of got out there, too bad the movie wasn't a better one. That was 1983 and was also the end of the band, after being together for a brief six years, a short lifespan for any outfit, and a poor time to go down in flames, because who remembers many late 70s formations that drowned in the early 80s? Exactly.
"The Bridge" was a lost piece in the puzzle, recorded for
Casablanca records and was shelved due to legal disputes, it has taken over twenty years to resurface. It was the final record with original
707 singer Phil Bryant on vocals, since he was ditched when they jumped to Bordwalk records for "Megaforce". The label didn't want Bryant and didn't want "The Bridge" sound and demanded something completely different. They wanted fresh and new, and the band claims they don't understand the reasoning behind this, I mean they toured with
REO Speedwagon for goodness sakes, why change their sound now?
Well now in the 2000s when we are looking back on these things as time capsules, little unchanged reminders of the sounds, emotions and atmosphere of that particular decade, this thing sounds quite dated. "The Bridge" gives off vibes of a bevy of outfits throughout the entire range of the disco decade, a far cry from the musical excesses of the
AOR styled "Megaforce", in fact, those that were introduced to the band due to the reissue of that album will likely wonder what exactly this is supposed to be all about since it is so very different, and almost pedestrian sounding in comparison to the overblown stylings of that album. But this is the band
707 was, and therefore is more authentic than the pieced together and very brief, Kevin Chaflant period. Even if that period was superior in many ways.
The CD is heavy stacked, the best of the bunch comes at the beginning and falls off rather quickly after that. And as for the band's style, well, it's like they just borrowed from everyone who was someone in the 70s, and copied that signature sound for any given song. There really isn't much of anything that they can claim as their own, and unfortunately a great deal of this album just isn't appealing, which is likely why it has molded and dusted on shelves so long.
The opener,
"Leader" is a kick-ass pomp rocker with tons of synth and the whole
Styx vibe going strong. Bryant even sounds a bit like Tommy Shaw here, driving that vibe home all the way.
"You're All I Need" is a 38 Special clone.
"Sirens of the Sea" feels like something off of Foreigner's debut or "Double Vision".
"Message From A Friend" has its influences, of course, but comes off sounding more original and features some nice big hooks and a catchy chorus.
"Love You Til I Die" is very KISS-like in the rollicking roll sound and vocal delivery, and while not superb, gets the job done and is a nice ditty overall. It won't get any kind of crazy replay but is a decent enough track.
"Hungry For Your Love" is like a tamed Lynyrd Skynyrd track, with that saloon piano banging out the keys in the background. It is kind of like southern rock with a jolt of boogie funk for good measure. It surely is not "Freebird" though.
"Head Over Heels" sees the horrific return of that annoying as hell piano from
"Hungry For Your Love", and on top of it all, manages to be brain meltingly repetitive.
"Walking Out" (on love!) is more unremarkable 70s styled pap with the bare bones chorus shouted out one too many times and still manages to test play like something from the bottom of
Styx's scrap heap pile of songs they wanted absolutely nothing to do with.
"Couldn't Be Better" is like a bad trip through Jefferson Airplane/Starship land, completed by tacking on the hypnotic synthesizer and warped swirling vocals. The title track ends the running time of the original album with a frenetic
Deep Purple kind of pacing, "Highway Star"-ish or something but without the charm of course, and the inclusion of some really aggravating synth sounds. Which reaffirms my belief that people went so wild in the 80s over synth heavy music because it just didn't suck this bad anymore. Perhaps the early 80s had a Casio keyboard flavor, but even that didn't grate like this crap does.
Ah and of course we get bonuses, and sadly, many of these are better than the meat of the album, especially the first one,
"The Waiting Game". I would date it as 1974-76 just by listening to it, since it has this mellow feel and is rooted deeply in that decade, but the melodies are on point and the song is nice and breezy in this lightly dusted
Chicago manner. Bryant's voice handles this type of material very well.
"The Girl With the Broken Heart" carries on the torch of this stylistic turn, maybe the guys had toured with
REO Speedwagon for just long enough judging by what was produced here that was sealed up tighter in the vaults than "The Bridge" itself. But it works, the band pulls this off with much more convincing grace than the boogie-woogie junk that made it on the main event. The guitar/piano combo in the extended solo area is well done and everything just gels, even while high flying in that sky field of peace and daisies during the verses.
"Perfect Lies" gets that stomp thing down pat, and sizzles with a stadium rocker overtone. Good stuff all around, and these three are the best thing the album has going for it, and they aren't even part of the album!
Again, no wonder "The Bridge" got shelved.
But on the other hand, it is great that the album finally got to see the light of day. There have been too many buried mysteries behind records that labels caught up in red tape and shoved into the abyss oblivion never to be heard, ever, and this one finally, after so many years, gets its due. This will likely be even more appreciated by those who like 70s rock n' roll, since it is so deeply steeped in the era, and even more bands could be referenced as kick starters for their sound, like Boston, UFO, or even KISS. Not everyone's cup of tea, that's for sure, but there are some songs here that have almost universal appeal, as long as it's kept in context with the sign of these past times.
Written by
Alanna Thursday, December 2, 2004
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