- Audio CD (April 15 2003)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Label: Griffin Records
- ASIN: B00000IPAW
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
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Product Details |
Track Listings
| 1. I Could Never Leave |
| 2. Don't Hide Your Love |
| 3. Down In The City |
| 4. Crazy Women |
| 5. Billy Oxygen |
| 6. Here I Go Again |
| 7. You're A Woman Now |
| 8. Wish I Could Be There |
Product Description
Product Description
One of Canada's Finest Metal Bands. This is their 1979 Debut Album. First Time on CD.
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
Format:Audio CD
Breaking Loose, Helix's debut album, stands today as one of the finest albums they've done, if not their very best.
In 1976, original band members Brian Vollmer and Keith Zurbrigg were joined by the Doerner brothers, Brent and Brian (lead guitar and drums respectively) and Paul Hackman (lead guitar) and toured extensively. This album collects many of the songs they wrote during those early days.
Kicking it off with the mid-tempo "I Could Never Leave", Helix right away hit you with one of their best songs. They keep building it until you get to "Billy Oxygen", one of their first hits, with lead vocals courtesy of Brent Doerner. "Billy Oxygen" is still a favourite to this day, a short fast rocker about a guy named Billy Oxygen, captain of a starship called an ES-335, looking to meet some aliens to party with.
There isn't a weak song on this album, but two other highlights are definitely "You're A Woman Now", featuring female backing vocals and a structure that builds into something dramatic, as if it's Helix's own "Stairway To Heaven". "Wish I Could Be There" brings back the outer space theme, and has acoustic and heavy sections, sort of Helix's foray into prog rock.
This lineup only lasted for one album, both Brian Doerner and Keith Zurbrigg departed shortly after this, leaving Vollmer the sole original member. Their legacy is this debut album, something for any band to be proud of.
In 1976, original band members Brian Vollmer and Keith Zurbrigg were joined by the Doerner brothers, Brent and Brian (lead guitar and drums respectively) and Paul Hackman (lead guitar) and toured extensively. This album collects many of the songs they wrote during those early days.
Kicking it off with the mid-tempo "I Could Never Leave", Helix right away hit you with one of their best songs. They keep building it until you get to "Billy Oxygen", one of their first hits, with lead vocals courtesy of Brent Doerner. "Billy Oxygen" is still a favourite to this day, a short fast rocker about a guy named Billy Oxygen, captain of a starship called an ES-335, looking to meet some aliens to party with.
There isn't a weak song on this album, but two other highlights are definitely "You're A Woman Now", featuring female backing vocals and a structure that builds into something dramatic, as if it's Helix's own "Stairway To Heaven". "Wish I Could Be There" brings back the outer space theme, and has acoustic and heavy sections, sort of Helix's foray into prog rock.
This lineup only lasted for one album, both Brian Doerner and Keith Zurbrigg departed shortly after this, leaving Vollmer the sole original member. Their legacy is this debut album, something for any band to be proud of.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.5 out of 5 stars
2 reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Helix - 'Breaking Loose' (Griffin)
Feb 12 2006
By Mike Reed
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Audio CD
Originally released in 1979,as this was actually Helix's debut record.News to me,that it wasn't '83's 'No Rest For The Wicked',as I've always previously thought.Hadn't listened to that much Helix in the last couple years,as that's as long as I've been on the internet.'Breaking Loose' is a decent effort by the long-running Canadian heavy rockers.Certainly not as good as their later material,but 'okay'.Tunes I sort of dug were "I Could Never Leave",the power rocker "Down In The City" and "You're A Woman".Might appeal to fans of Dokken,early Rainbow,Roth-era Van Halen and Ratt.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Before Helix became party metal heroes
Mar 8 2013
By Justin G.
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Audio CD
Originally released in 1979, Breaking Loose was the debut album from Canadian hard rock (and later, heavy metal) band Helix. Helix was a fairly successful band in the mid `80s on the strength of high octane party rock albums like No Rest for the Wicked and Walkin The Razors Edge, but they had a very different sound early on.
The Helix that debuted at the end of the `70s had a sound that was like a weird hard rock hybrid of the blues rock sound Led Zeppelin made so popular and the early Foreigner AOR sound. It's melodic, but with some groove, and the guitars have a metallic edge at times. You get hints of the later Helix sound here and there, but for the most part this is barroom rock along the lines of Starz, TKO and Y&T precursor Yesterday and Today. Breaking Loose is a fun, rocking record, but it's also the kind of album that may have casual Helix fans scratching their heads and wondering where the "Rock You" equivalent is
Breaking Loose is a rock-solid debut from a band that really should have been a much bigger success, but unless you're a Helix super-fan, it's just not an essential album the way their mid `80s releases are. If you're really into the late `70s early `80s hard rock sound though, this is definitely an album you're going to want to own.
Edition Notes: Previously available (on CD) only on the out of print The Early Years collection, Breaking Loose was reissued on the Griffin label in 1999. It's a pretty bare bones reissue (no bonus tracks, minimal liner notes), but in terms of sound it does appear to have been remastered, or at least cleaned up a bit. Sadly, the reissue has been out of print for a while now, and has gotten pretty pricey.
The Helix that debuted at the end of the `70s had a sound that was like a weird hard rock hybrid of the blues rock sound Led Zeppelin made so popular and the early Foreigner AOR sound. It's melodic, but with some groove, and the guitars have a metallic edge at times. You get hints of the later Helix sound here and there, but for the most part this is barroom rock along the lines of Starz, TKO and Y&T precursor Yesterday and Today. Breaking Loose is a fun, rocking record, but it's also the kind of album that may have casual Helix fans scratching their heads and wondering where the "Rock You" equivalent is
Breaking Loose is a rock-solid debut from a band that really should have been a much bigger success, but unless you're a Helix super-fan, it's just not an essential album the way their mid `80s releases are. If you're really into the late `70s early `80s hard rock sound though, this is definitely an album you're going to want to own.
Edition Notes: Previously available (on CD) only on the out of print The Early Years collection, Breaking Loose was reissued on the Griffin label in 1999. It's a pretty bare bones reissue (no bonus tracks, minimal liner notes), but in terms of sound it does appear to have been remastered, or at least cleaned up a bit. Sadly, the reissue has been out of print for a while now, and has gotten pretty pricey.
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3.5 out of 5 stars
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