Rank and File (album)

Rank and File is an album by the American band Rank and File, released in 1987.[1][2] The band supported the album with a North American tour.[3] The first single was "Black Book".[4]

Rank and File
Studio album by
Rank and File
Released1987
GenreHard rock
LabelRhino
ProducerBill Pfordresher
Rank and File chronology
Long Gone Dead
(1984)		 Rank and File
(1987)

Rank and File was the band's final album, with the Kinman brothers forming a new band, Blackbird, before the end of the year.[5]

Production

The album was produced by Bill Pfordresher.[6] The band chose to shift from a country-influenced sound to a more hard rock style, in part due to years of playing live.[7][4] After having an album rejected by Warner Bros. (which Van Dyke Parks almost produced), the band recorded demos for many record companies before signing to Rhino Records.[8][9][10] Most of the album's songs were written and worked out during tours; many are about the concerns of urban blue collar workers.[11][12] "Pistol Dawn" is about apartheid in South Africa.[4] "Good Times" employs synthesized strings.[13]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[14]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[15]
Los Angeles Times[16]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide[6]

The Chicago Tribune praised the "barbed-wire guitars and catchy melodies."[17] The Los Angeles Times deemed the album "semi-heavy metal, arena-rock" and "an accomplished and eclectic transitional record."[16] The Orange County Register wrote that the band "left behind most of the rawhide melodies and close country harmony singing, not to mention the youthful edge, that made their earlier material so appealing."[18] The Houston Chronicle determined that "the band has gone overboard in shedding its rootsy style to emerge as more a mainstream rock entry into the radio/concert sweepstakes."[19]

MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide noted the Kinmans' "odd but frequent penchant towards style-juggling career suicide."[6]

Track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Black Book" 
2."One Big Thing" 
3."Golden Age" 
4."RBT" 
5."Pistol Dawn" 
6."Sweet Life" 
7."Good Times" 
8."Oh! That Girl" 
9."Unlucky in Love" 
10."Love House" 

References
  1. Morse, Steve (6 Mar 1987). "Rhino Records Cash In on the Outrageous". Arts and Film. The Boston Globe. p. 40.
  2. "Out on Town". L.A. Life. Los Angeles Daily News. March 27, 1987. p. 36.
  3. Himes, Geoffrey (April 24, 1987). "Rank and File and Writin'". The Washington Post.
  4. Mackie, John (3 Apr 1987). "Rank and File roar back into hard rock". Vancouver Sun. p. C6.
  5. Schoemer, Karen (26 Oct 1990). "Tuning In on College Radio Bands at Clubs Around Town". The New York Times. p. C24.
  6. MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 921.
  7. Hochman, Steve (29 Mar 1987). "Rank and File-Sayin' So Long to Cow Punk". Calendar. Los Angeles Times. p. 59.
  8. McLeese, Don (August 4, 1986). "Nightclubbing". Features. Chicago Sun-Times. p. 33.
  9. Mills, Fred (October 9, 2006). "Western Union". Seattle Weekly. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  10. Righi, Len (May 10, 1986). "Rank & File: Still Working". The Morning Call. p. A63.
  11. Popson, Tom (17 Apr 1987). "Rank and File". Friday. Chicago Tribune. p. G.
  12. Quill, Greg (July 24, 1986). "Filing Back". Toronto Star. p. B3.
  13. Moon, Tom (May 28, 1987). "Rank and File Plays Cameo". Miami Herald. p. 6B.
  14. "Rank and File Rank and File". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  15. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 6. MUZE. p. 767.
  16. McKenna, Kristine (26 Apr 1987). "Rank Roars, Rocks". Los Angeles Times. Calendar. p. 96.
  17. Brogan, Daniel (17 Apr 1987). "Rank and File, Rank and File". Friday. Chicago Tribune. p. 69.
  18. Washburn, Jim (March 26, 1987). "Peter Case, Rank and File—the good and bad at Goodies". Orange County Register. p. J8.
  19. Racine, Marty (March 29, 1987). "Records". Zest. Houston Chronicle. p. 11.
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