The Toy Box: The Outfield

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Retro Spins: The Outfield - Voices Of Babylon

Unlike The Outfield's sophomore album, Bangin', their third album, Voices Of Babylon was already one in my discography for the title track. However, to date, I have yet to get around to hearing the whole thing from start to finish. Well, today is the day to rectify that.

Babylon saw the band working with a new producer, and adopting a new sound. The end result was the album title track reaching number two on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Charts. Additionally, it's follow-up single, My Paradise, reached number thirty-four.

Playing through it, there is a definite sound change. In particular, to that of the vocals of Tony Lewis. They seem more reserved. Not as loud. Smoother, almost. Additionally, the guitars seem to have been pulled back. Gone are the wailing solos, and overall wall of sound that dominated prior albums. None of this is a bad thing.

Voices Of Babylon opens with the title track, and while it's certainly my favorite, it wasn't the last good song to be found. However, with that said, there was nothing I pulled for my shuffle list beyond the opener. This was because, like their prior albums, there's good stuff, but it's not memorable. Ultimately, the goal is to not bog down my shuffle with filler. Rather, get back to music that I won't constantly skip over when it comes around.

Overall, it was a decent listening experience, but not one that left me saying, "I need to hear that again," to the majority of the tracks. Frankly, it's albums like this, where I have one song from it that garners rotation on my playlist, that makes me wonder if it's time to consolidate my CD collection. You know, start doing away with albums that are taking up space, but don't offer much "value" to them. Would I really be distraught if I didn't hear the song Voices Of Babylon again? Probably not. Do I really need to own the whole album for just that one song? Again, probably not.

See, now I'm angry at The Outfield. Their lackluster albums are now making me question owning them. Stop making me regret my life choices! Music is supposed to bring joy, not make you ponder what you've done wrong.

Sales would continue to decline for The Outfield, and the band would leave Columbia Records as a result. They would also part ways with founding member, Alan Jackman. However, what I can't find is the reason as to why he left the band. Was he fired? Did he quit? Don't know.

Tony Lewis and John Spinks would label hop over the next several years, continuing to release albums as The Outfield throughout the 90's and 2000's. Simon Dawson would also join the band as their new drummer on 1998's It Ain't Over..., but depart after the release of 1999's Extra Innings. 2011 saw the return of Jackman, and the original lineup releasing their final album to date, Replay. However, throughout this entire period they would never recapture that moment from the 80's where they had chart topping hits.

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Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.

THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
August 13, 1983

THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
August 13, 1988

Retro Spins: The Outfield - Bangin'

I didn't have much to say about The Outfield's debut, Play Deep, beyond acknowledging that it was a good album. While I hope to have more to say about their sophomore release, Bangin', I suppose I'd suffice to also just get another good album.

It's interesting to me that unlike a lot of bands out there, the history of The Outfield seems to be summed up in tight paragraphs on their Wiki page. It basically just cuts to the chase, "This album was released, it had these hits, that is all." It adds a layer of mystery to the band that I want to know about. Who were they? Was there turmoil, or was it all roses? Alas, I can't find anything to that regard.

As such, and unfortunately, I can only state what I've come to learn, which is that their 1987 follow-up was not as popular as its predecessor. While it spawned the top forty hit, Since You've Been Gone, sales were much lower than anticipated, with Bangin' only reaching gold status.

As I listened to it, I was admittedly a bit disappointed. Nothing was really resonating, and frankly, the songs were coming off as boring, resulting in them becoming background noise quickly. However, things shifted when Moving Target fired up, and immediately had me bobbing my head.

From there, I seemed a bit more invested, and found myself enjoying Long Way Home, and Playground. Despite this, I would be remiss to say that overall Bangin' was still missing something. That being an actual hit that hooks you.

Unfortunately, from there things get boring once again. Personally, I didn't even find the purported hit, Since You've Been Gone, to be all that interesting. Overall, the biggest flaw with everything was the lack of a hit, and a series of songs that were instantaneously forgettable.

Like I mentioned above, the history of The Outfield is pretty sparse, so there's not much to say leading up to their third, and final studio album of the 80's. We'll hit that one tomorrow.

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THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
August 12, 1989

Retro Spins: The Outfield - Play Deep

Tony Lewis, John Spinks, and Alan Jackman originally played together in the band Sirius B in the late 70's. However, they quickly found that their style of music wasn't jiving with the up and coming punk scene, resulting in the three parting ways. Years later, and adopting the name, The Baseball Boys, taken from the gang The Baseball Furies from The Warriors, the three would once again start playing together. This time, they garnered the attention of Columbia / CBS Records, who signed them in 1984.

Their manager made the recommendation that they change their name, suggesting The Outfield. While the band was keen on the change, the irony was that baseball was all new to them as England natives. "I didn't even know what an outfield was," stated Sprinks.

Their debut, Play Deep, was released in 1985, and to promote it, the first single selected was, Say It Isn't So. The song quickly became a regional number one hit, and peeked at number eighteen on the Billboard Hot 100. However, it would be their follow-up single, Your Love, which would kick their sales into high gear. Your Love would become their most popular song to date, peeking at number six on the Hot 100. As a whole, the album reached number nine on the charts, and became 2X certified platinum.

As I played through it, I was surprised to find how much I was enjoying track after track. Lead singer, Tony Lewis, has a distinct voice. This can be haunting at times, while other times, he can inadvertently sound like he's yelling at you. It's the latter where songs became less desirable to hear, but still not necessarily bad.

My three favorites from Play Deep would be the two aforementioned hits, as well as All The Love. However, with that said, I didn't hear anything I would say I didn't like. I'm just trying to be a bit more selective with what ends up on my shuffle these days.

Hearing this definitely made me feel like there was more to The Outfield, and this in turn intrigued me to want to continue on my listening journey. While I already had their 1989 Voices Of Babylon, I would need to fill in the gap in between with 1987's Bangin'. But, we'll have to wait until tomorrow to get into that one.

For now, this one is pretty short and sweet. Play Deep was an overall enjoyable listening experience.

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THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
August 11, 1984