Elevator

Released in 1979 with new guitarist/vocalist Duncan Faure Elevator is arguably the Rollers finest musical acheivement! Along with the new blood Faure brings to the band, the music contains a new maturity and energy that was sorely lacking in previous albums like Strangers In The Wind. Peter Kerr's production is right on, bringing a new wave power pop feel to songs like Elevator, Hello And Welcome Home, Instant Relay and Turn On The Radio. Faure has an eerie Lennonesque quality to his voice which brings the songs to life in an explosive way and his songwriting chops are felt throughout the album. This CD is worth playing over and over again...loudly! I love playing this for friends who are blown away by the music then ask "Who is this band?" I say "The Rollers aka The Bay City Rollers" and watch their jaws drop in disbelief! Enjoy!

This is not your kids Bay city Rollers, drugs, depression etc. through out this cd. And I love it!, this cd comes close to a beatle-like album, I could hear Paul singing hello and welcome home. Washingtons birthday is an amazing song. I had the privelege of seeing the Rollers when this cd came out they put on an awesome show. This cd is the best of the Rollers, i'm sure some pureist might disagree, with a differnt lead singer. I love every song on this cd, and thats hard to say with most bands these days. Buy it now you won't regret!

Man, I thought I knew the Rollers well, then realized I never heard this! Power pop masterpiece from '79; no Les, but possibly their most solid album! Wow!

My parents accidentally purchased this for me for my 12th birthday. They were requested to buy "The Bay City Rollers Greatest Hits." After my initial disappointment, I put the record on and almost immediately fell in love with it. As the winter gave way to the spring of 1980, I became obsessed with this album, listening to it's tracks over and over and over. At the time I was only somewhat aware that this was the first "mature" offering of the former Bay City Rollers, once lead singer Les McKeown left the band for his ill-fated solo career.Once I became a serious rock fan in high school, I revisited it again, somewhat surprised that it held up and that my 6th grade ears weren't totally clueless in their infatuation over these sounds.Many more years later, the original LP long lost, I found another copy on Ebay for a few bucks, and eagerly placed it on my turntable once it arrived in the mail. Again, I was shocked by how well it stood the test of time. Or maybe I was shocked by what a bizarre record it is in the context of the history of pop music. It doesn't matter. I love this and it will always hold a place in my heart. I can tell you one thing. This record IS better than you think it is.The "grown up" sound of The Rollers is very simple. It was 1979. Imagine Cheap Trick and The Beatles filtered through late-'70s Electric Light Orchestra and this would be the result. If George Martin would have produced "Dream Police" in 1979 instead of the following year's, "All Shook Down," this is very close to what would have probably been the final product.Favorite tracks are the hard-rocking, "Elevator," complete with Kraftwerk/Bowie mannequin/android imagery crossed with sexual metaphors and the bizarre hard rock/new wave of "Stoned Houses #2," the catchy "Playing In a Rock and Roll Band," and "Turn on the Radio." I also love the heavy rockin' of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle despondency twofer, "Who'll Be My Keeper?" and "Back on the Road Again." The final track, "Washington's Birthday," makes no sense lyrically whatsoever but moves me with it's dark Beatles-esque melancholy.The whole album is thematically united by confessions of crashing rock 'n' roll dreams. There are more drug references than in Nikki Sixx's, "The Heroin Diaries." The are multiple references to sex, mostly as mindless diversion. The are numerous references to the monotony and pointlessness of the daily workings of the music business.Although this was to be the rebirth of the Bay City Rollers as adult rock musicians with a new lease on life, the lyrical content tells the story of a band who KNEW their time had already come and gone. The Rollers were, quite frankly, ready for the madness to be over since their rock 'n' roll lifestyle had morphed into something vastly different from the rock 'n' roll dreams of their youth.Awesome stuff.

An interesting and excellent Bay City Rollers. They rather were evolving into a more serious attitude, but still some very enjoyable music.

Magic! picked this album up at a record shop in Aberdeen when it first came oot!

My favourite band

Great album with many nice songs, especially "Elevator" and "Turn On The Radio".

I've just received my CD of "The Rollers", Elevator. Back in the day, I had this on vinyl! I was a Bay City Roller fan as they were transitioning out of the Tartan outfits and bubblegum sound, into a 4 member group exploring more mature themes. I was actually living in the US at the time, and had seen them on "Midnight Special" while they were promoting "It's A Game" with former lead singer Les McKeown. As of 1979, Les was gone and they'd discovered a gem of a musician in South African born Duncan Faure (pronounced Four-uh). In my opinion, this was their turning point as songwriters and musicians. Elevator was a huge departure for the band! It was a darker record, where they'd explored classic rock 'n roll themes such as living in the fast lane, sexuality and drug use. I'm not sure how much they'd experienced themselves, or simply as observers from their time spent living in Hollywood, California. There is a wonderful mixture of driving rock themes ("Playing in a Rock and Roll Band') and lovely Beatle-esque ballads ("Hello and Welcome Home") as well as the radio friendly ("Turn on the Radio"). The only criticism I have is that they were trying a bit too hard to prove themselves. But then again, who can blame them after paying their dues as young guys working so hard for a 'dictator' of a manager only to end up with not much to show for it. This is a really great effort and I certainly wish they'd been given more credit for their abilities as musicians!!

あの頃、ミュージックライフは、ローラーズを、相手にしていなくてロックショーが、ローラーズのその後を、伝えていた、記憶があります。才能ある、ダンカンが、加入したものの、時は、南アフリカの｢アパルトヘイト｣の問題で、日本も、南アフリカの白人入国拒否を行っていた時期です。ご存じの通り、ダンカンは、南アフリカの白人、いくら、黒人音楽に影響を受け、リスペクトしていると、メディアに、訴えかけても、相手にされなかったのだと、思います。一度も、新生ローラーズは、来日出来ぬまま自然消滅してしまい、意味のない、同窓会コンサート、日本で、繰り返して、いたように、思います。たられば、ですが、新生ローラーズが、来日でき、日本･米国でコンサートが、行えなていたなら、大きく変わっていたと思います。本当に、不運だったと思います。

Collection

I bought this cd to finish the bay city roller cd collection my dad has. I really like this cd as it has a totaly diferent sound to what they done before. I would recommend this cd.

いやぁ、ﾋﾞｯｸﾘです。7t'sﾚｰﾍﾞﾙさんはとても良い仕事をしますね。普通なら“IT'S A GAME”“STRANGERS IN THE WIND”で打ち切りであろう所、まさか“ELEVATOR”まで…。本作は今までのBAY CITY ROLLERSとは良い意味で全くの別物です。過去これ程までに、個々のﾒﾝﾊﾞｰのﾐｭｰｼﾞｼｬﾝｼｯﾌﾟが炸裂した事は無かったでしょう(と個人的には思う)。このｱﾙﾊﾞﾑからLeslieの後任として参加したDuncanによって刺激され、他のﾒﾝﾊﾞｰの潜在能力が一気に開花したような、弾けまくりのｺﾞｷｹﾞﾝ(死語?)Rock'n'Rollが全編に亘って展開されています。もちろん《Hello and Welcome Home》の様なﾊﾟﾜｰﾊﾞﾗｰﾄﾞも秀逸！実はこの曲、Duncanが在籍したRabbittの3rdに原曲が収録されているんだけど、RollersとしてｱﾚﾝｼﾞしなおしてRabbittの時よりもすごーく良くなっちゃったって所でEric,Woody,Alan,Derekの培われたPOPｾﾝｽが垣間見れて、とても関心させられます。このCDを買う人達って、「ELEVATORならLPﾚｺｰﾄﾞも持ってるし、8枚組CDBOXでも持ってるよ」って人が大半なんでしょうが、「Leslie脱退してからRollers聴かなくなっちゃったよなぁ」って方々に是非とも聴いてもらいたい！　POPな要素よりもROCKな要素を強調し、大衆性を勝ち取るようなｽﾄﾘﾝｸﾞｽ・ｱﾚﾝｼﾞとかを一切排除し、『The Rollersとしてのﾊﾞﾝﾄﾞ・ｻｳﾝﾄﾞ』で勝負に出た傑作ですよ！！(しかしｱｲﾄﾞﾙとしてのﾚｯﾃﾙは払拭されず…世間は冷たい)