I went into this one completely blind, as I have never heard of Firefall. They’re a soft rock band from Boulder, Colorado. They’re still together at time of writing, and in fact, they’re currently on tour with Jefferson Starship, the Atlanta Rhythm Section, and Pure Prairie League. But the actual prime years of Firefall’s commercial success spanned a rather short period from 1976 to 1980.
Here, we will be talking about Firefall’s self-titled debut, released in April 1976. The first single, “Livin’ Ain’t Livin,” was a minor hit that barely missed the top 40 on the Hot 100, though I believe it fared better on rock airplay. However, the second single, “You Are The Woman,” was much bigger, hitting the top 10 on the Hot 100 and on Adult Contemporary.
And yes, this album is very much the crossover of soft rock and country rock that was big in the Seventies. Firefall’s album is well performed, but I will deduct points because the song “Love Isn’t All” contains the lyric “maybe someday I could care less.” As the son of two English majors, I hate when people say that. The phrase is “couldn’t care less.” And believe me, I had to stop myself from writing that in all caps.
But if I may attempt to look past that, this album sounds like if Blue Öyster Cult tried to make an Eagles album. The vocal harmonies remind me of Blue Öyster Cult, but as I alluded to earlier, a lot of Firefall’s album is soft country rock in the same vein as the Byrds, the Eagles, or Crosby, Stills, & Nash. Actually, speaking of those bands, let me blow your mind.
There was a band formed in 1968 called The Flying Burrito Brothers. Plenty of members from just the original lineup had achieved success with other projects, or they would after leaving. Future Eagles founding member Bernie Leadon was one example. And many members of The Flying Burrito Brothers either joined The Byrds or had connections to them. These include, but are not limited to, bassist Chris Hillman and drummer Michael Clarke. Gram Parsons was also in The Flying Burrito Brothers, but Chris Hillman fired him in 1970. Shortly thereafter, another guy named Rick Roberts joined the band. A few years later, Rick Roberts and Michael Clarke formed Firefall. They also brought along a guy named Jock Bartley, who was the guitarist in Gram Parsons’ solo band.
Fast forward to Firefall’s self-titled debut. The album opener, “It Doesn’t Matter,” was written by Rick Roberts, Chris Hillman, and Stephen Stills.
All this is to say Firefall’s sound may overlap with some contemporaries, though they do have some standout moments. For example, there’s a really funky song called “No Way Out,” which sounds like something Joe Walsh would have put on an Eagles album if he had written it. I also quite liked the ballad “Dolphin’s Lullaby.” If you like this kind of music but hate the Eagles, maybe Firefall would make a good substitute.
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