Irishing April

Think of Canadian rock bands and Rush probably spring to mind, as would Steppenwolf and Triumph. All fantastic bands. That's not to take anything away from April Wine, who in terms of output (if not success), must rank alongside the aforementioned. Classic hard rock that is really worth checking out….

April starts the recording by highlighting her love of the blues with her original “April Blues”, performed with a mature delivery and phrasings that are in lock step with bassist Reuben Rogers’ beat.

APRIL FOOL was formed in early 1988 by drummer Walt "Wiggy" Kaye, who enlisted guitarist Chris Rocus, bassist Chris Mock and vocalist Dave Stradling. First order of business was a four song demo recorded at Dave Ivory's studio, Iris Sound. APRIL FOOL then hit the club circuit hard while the song "Bad Boy Willie" was receiving local Philadelphia airplay, resulting in the band's live concert following starting to grow. By the fall of 1988 Mock decided to leave the band and was replaced by bassist Roberto Lombardi. At this point the band enjoyed interest from several major labels. During the negotiations in early 1989, Rocus would be replaced by guitarist George Smith. Three weeks after the lineup changes, APRIL FOOL was back out playing live to even bigger crowds up and down the east coast.

Setting the stage for the final phase in the sputtering glory period of Montreal celestials April Wine, Animal Grace stealthily practiced commercially competent clod rock but distinguishably disappeared without a trace. Leadoff "This Could Be the Right One" escapes the fate of ad infinitum wussy ballads via a brisk tempo and cynical lyrics…

Their second album (which doubles as their US debut) is a great collection of killer tracks. While not as hard rockin' as the Greenway albums of the late 70s and early 80s, this album still rocks quite nicely…

As suggested by its title, Harder…Faster sees veteran Canadian rockers April Wine taking things up a notch with relentless slabs of hard rock in "I Like to Rock" and "Ladies Man." Also on hand is a memorable cool groover called "Say Hello," a curious cover of King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man," and the dual personality of "Tonite," which alternates between quiet balladry and all-out riffing…

The April Wine entry in Capitol Records' midline-priced Classic Masters series is a reasonable best-of culled from the group's tenure at Capitol from the late '70s to the mid-'80s…

Seventeen-track anthology focuses mostly on their popular 1963-66 recordings, including "Deep Purple," "Whispering," "Stardust," "All Strung Out," several lower-charting items, and some LP tracks. They milked the "Deep Purple" formula too many times, but this is enjoyably frothy pop, and "All Strung Out" is a genuinely soulful, accurate approximation of Phil Spector's work with the Righteous Brothers. The disc also includes Stevens's 1959 solo single "Teach Me Tiger," a bizarre cover of "I Love How You Love Me" (with battling bagpipes and fuzzy guitars), and one undistinguished track each from 1985 and 1996.