Life on the Line

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Life on the Line
LifeOnTheLine.jpg
Studio album by
Released20 December 1977
StudioRegents Park Studios, St. Johns Wood, London
Genre Pub rock
Length34:53 – 1:07:01
Label Island
Producer Ed Hollis
Eddie and the Hot Rods chronology
Teenage Depression
(1976)
Life on the Line
(1977)
Thriller
(1979)
Singles from Life on the Line
  1. "Do Anything You Wanna Do"/"Schoolgirl Love"
    Released: July 29, 1977
  2. "Quit This Town"/"Distortion May Be Expected"
    Released: December 16, 1977
  3. "Life on the Line"/"Do Anything You Wanna Do (Live)"
    Released: March 10, 1978

Life on the Line is the second studio album by English rock band Eddie and the Hot Rods. The album was mixed by Ed Hollis and Steve Nicol, produced by Ed Hollis, and engineered by Steve Lillywhite.

Contents

Life on the Line reached number 27 on the UK Albums Chart. [1] The album featured three singles: "Do Anything You Wanna Do", which peaked at number 9 on the UK Singles Chart, [1] "Life on the Line", and "Quit This Town", which reached number 36. [1]

The song "Do Anything You Wanna Do" was covered by Manfred Mann's Earth Band for their Criminal Tango album (1986).

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Christgau's Record Guide B− [3]
Record Mirror Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [4]

The Globe and Mail concluded: "This band is so topical, so accurate on contemporary street feeling (the alternation between active-passive is scary but authentic), that Life on the Line qualifies as more than a collection of tunes; it's a document that pegs 1977 as it hasn't yet been pegged." [5]

Track listing

  1. "Do Anything You Wanna Do" (music: Graeme Douglas; lyrics: Ed Hollis) – 4:19
  2. "Quit This Town" (music: Graeme; lyrics: Hollis, Douglas) – 2:27
  3. "Telephone Girl" (music: Paul Gray, Steve Nicol; lyrics: Barry Masters) – 2:28
  4. "What's Really Going On" (music & lyrics: Gray) – 2:17
  5. "Ignore Them (Still Life)" (music: Douglas; lyrics: Hollis) – 4:43
  6. "Life on the Line" (music: Douglas, Gray; lyrics: Hollis) – 4:04
  7. "(And) Don't Believe Your Eyes" (music: Douglas; lyrics: Hollis) – 3:35
  8. "We Sing... The Cross" (music: Douglas, Gray, Nicol) – 2:48
  9. "Beginning of the End" (music & lyrics: Dave Higgs) – 8:17
2000 reissue bonus tracks
  1. "I Might Be Lying" (Dave Higgs) – 5:16
  2. "Ignore Them (Always Crashing in the Same Bar)" – 3:34
  3. "Schoolgirl Love" (Douglas, Masters) – 3:21
  4. "Till the Night Is Gone (Let's Rock)" – 3:13
  5. "Flipside Rock" (With Robin Tyner) – 2:39
  6. "Do Anything You Wanna Do" (Live) – 4:05
  7. "What's Really Going On" (Live) (Douglas, Hollis) – 2:17
  8. "Why Can't It Be" (Live) (Higgs) – 2:39
  9. "Distortion May Be Expected" – 5:07

Personnel

Eddie and the Hot Rods
Technical

Charts

Chart (1977)Peak
position
UK Albums Chart27
Singles
YearSingleChartPosition
1977"Do Anything You Wanna Do"UK Singles Chart9
"Quit This Town"36
1978"Life on the Line"-

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Eddie and the Hot Rods". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  2. Thompson, Dave. "Life on the Line – Eddie & the Hot Rods". AllMusic . Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  3. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Eddie and the Hot Rods: Life on the Line". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor and Fields. ISBN   0-89919-026-X . Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  4. Cain, Barry (12 November 1977). "Review: Eddie and the Hot Rods — Life on the Line" (PDF). Record Mirror . p. 12. ISSN   0144-5804 . Retrieved 16 May 2021 via American Radio History.
  5. McGrath, Paul (21 December 1977). "Life with the Hot Rods". The Globe and Mail. p. F8.