Retro Spins: Survivor - Eye of the Tiger

Welcome to a new segment here at The Toy Box which I'm calling Retro Spins. What is that, you ask? Well, I'm glad you did!

As many of you know, I have a lot of CD's from the 80's. The problem with this is...well, I can't honestly say I've listed to all of them from start to finish. For a lot of them I've simply pulled my known / favorites from the albums and slapped them on my IPOD. However, how much good music am I missing by doing this? How many fantastic songs do I not know?

That's the point of Retro Spins. I'm going to take one CD each week and listen to it from start to finish and then share my very bias opinion about it. I will admit, I'm not easily amused when it comes to music. I either love it or hate it.

So, let's dive in to the first of what will hopefully be many Retro Spins to come.

Survivor
Eye of the Tiger
1982

Survivor hit the map hard with the song Eye of the Tiger in June of 1982 (entering the charts at number 73) when it was featured in Sylvester Stallone's Rocky III (released May 23, 1982). Granted the song had been available for a few months already having been released on the Survivor album of the same name in February. However, it took being featured in the film to really get recognition.

Like Rocky, the song fought its way from its very low chart entry on a weekly basis all the way to the number one spot by July 24, 1982. It remained their for six weeks before dropping to number two and eventually further down the charts. By November of that same year the song had fallen of the charts completely. 

The album itself comes out swinging like a fighter with its first track Eye of the Tiger. However, by track two it shifts back into the standard sound of the band, and the remainder of the album plays out more so like a series of rock ballads - Most of which profess love or relationships in one way or the other.

It's by no means terrible. In fact, the album as a whole plays out rather nicely with each track seamlessly fitting in where the last left off.

I heard some catchy tunes during my play through. Out of the nine tracks, four made their way to my IPOD. Of course Eye of the Tiger was one, with the three others being Feels Like Love, The One That Really Matters and I'm Not That Man Anymore. I'm still up in the air on Hesitation Dance.

I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised with Survivor's Eye of the Tiger. As a whole it's a pretty darn good album.

I hope you enjoyed this first post. My goal is to share a new Retro Spins every Tuesday.

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