GLORYDAZE Music - Articles: Le Roux

ARTIST: Le Roux
ALBUM: So Fired Up
LABEL: RCA
SERIAL: AFL1 4510
YEAR: 1983
CD REISSUE: 1985, RCA/BMG (West Germany), ND 90429 * 1999, JAC (USA), JAC-2000 * 2013, Rock Candy Records (UK), CANDY171

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

LINEUP: Fergie Fredericksen - vocals * Jim Odom - guitars * Tony Haselden - guitars * Leon Medica Jnr - bass * Rod Roddy - piano, keyboards * David Peters - drums

TRACK LISTING: 01 So Fired Up * 02 Lifeline * 03 Let Me In * 04 Yours Tonight * 05 Line On Love * 06 Carrie's Gone * 07 Wait One Minute * 08 Turning Point * 09 Don't Take It Away * 10 Look Out

WEBLINKS: www.laleroux.com

Background
This would have to be one of the all time great AOR albums ever. A gradual climb to greatness built up over years of struggle, and a gradual change from their early New Orleans R&B days to full on melodic hard rock. You will find this in virtually every AOR collectors top 10 albums. No question. For this album the band had moved to the RCA label, after the dismal flop of the 1980 release 'Up' on Capitol (reviewed elsewhere on this site). They also released the 'Last Safe Place' album on RCA in 1982 to a lukewarm reception though a couple of tracks did quite well at the lower end of the US charts during that year. However, with a change of personnel for 1983's 'So Fired Up' things definitely got on the improve. Added to the lineup was Dennis 'Fergie' Fredericksen, who came to prominence with pompsters Trillion, and young guitarist Jim Odom. This combination had completely changed Le Roux's sound to a storming aggressive brand of melodic hard rock and the results were spectacular.

The Songs
All of the songs are memorable, and I'm not going to waste space describing them. However, in a nutshell, there are classic moments like 'Turning Point', 'Carries Gone', 'Lifeline'. The quieter moments too like 'Wait One Minute' and 'Let Me In' are spellbinding. Overall it's a consistent AOR experience for the listener.

In Summary
Ironic too that RCA put the band on the rack not long after due to the dismal flop of this album. Either play that New Orleans type sound or ship out. So the latter prevailed, and the band duly broke up, rockers at heart but with no record label willing to take a chance. The band members moved on to other things, Medica and Haselden ventured into song writing, Fredericksen went on to Toto and is still in the industry. Le Roux to their credit after all these years, are still hanging in there, though with a slightly different lineup than of past. Check the website out for latest happenings.

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