4.5 out of 5 Stars!

From Canada, the band Boulevard released two above-average albums of slick, upbeat, and melodic AOR/Hard Rock material before calling it a day. Like many other highly talented and promising bands in this genre (or, heck, in every other genre, truth be told), Boulevard could have been huge had the band been given the right promotion, but as usually happens, the record company (in this case MCA) didn’t seem to give a hoot.

On Into the Street, the band’s second album, again featuring the outstanding vocalist David Forbes at the helm—his range, tone, dynamics, and delivery reminiscent of singers such as Terry Brock (Strangeways/Slamer) and Fergie Frederiksen (Toto/Trillion/LeRoux)—Boulevard once again created another fine collection of tracks where each and every song had choruses that repeated in your ear even long after the stereo had been silenced.

In respect to the music offered here, especially with Forbes’s vocal style and the balance of guitars and keyboards on sterling tracks such as “Crazy Life,” “Talk to Me,” “Light of Day,” “Lead Me On,” “Where Is the Love,” and “Eye to Eye,” I would liken Boulevard’s overall sound to AOR groups such as Strangeways, Toto, White Heart, LRB, with perhaps a touch of Mr. Mister, especially when it comes to some of the keyboard splashes and synth accents.

Admittedly, the crisp and clean production quality, the tones of the keys and guitars, have the occasional ’80s flavor, which may be off-putting to some of today’s listeners, but I have no problems with any of that…probably since I lived through the era and the material on this album (and the band’s debut) is just too good to miss.

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