38 Special - Strength in Numbers (10 tracks) +Album Reviews

38 Specials Best

bojangle12 | APO, AE United States | 12/21/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This was also my first 38 Special CD (actually it was an album), and everytime I play it, it ends too soon. Not a bad cut on this CD. There may have been stronger individual songs on their earlier stuff, but there was a big drop off in effort after that one or two songs, where the rest of the CD was not up to the same quality. Don Barnes had a hand in writing seven of the ten cuts here, and he is usually involved in their better songs. Rarely does he write one alone, but even on Flashback (a greatest hits CD), he was involved in eight of the fourteen cuts there. Not trying to put down the others in the band, but I personally enjoy his stuff the most. The song "Like No Other Night" is my personal favorite, but from beginning to end if you are looking for 38 Special's best that is not on a Greatest Hits package, this is the one you want to start with. The only drawback to buying this one first is that you will never be as pleased with any of the others from beginning to end. I have all but their live CD, and have never regreted having any of them."

A Solid Rock and Roll Album from 38 Special!!

Louie Bourland | Garden Grove CA | 04/10/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Strength in Numbers" is the 1986 album release from Southern Arena rockers 38 Special. At the time, the band was at the peak of a winning streak crafting albums of upbeat melodic pop-rock with a slight Country tinge. This album is no exception. It's a fantastic album from beginning to finish and displays the band's tight musicality and hook-filled songwriting at its best.
Guitarist Don Barnes is mostly up front on lead vocals here while main lead singer Donnie Van Zant takes a step back from the microphone until the very end of the album bringing it to a dynamic finish on its final two tracks.
Tracks such as the hits "Somebody Like You" and "Like No Other Night" were all over the airwaves when this album was released. Other standouts such as "Last Time", "Just A Little Love", "Hearts On Fire" and "Against The Night" are impossible to dislike and contain enough hooks to have you humming in no time. The slower tracks ("Once In A Lifetime" and "Has There Ever Been A Good Goodbye") are equally enjoyable and shows the band tackling ballads as effortless as their trademark rock numbers.
With all this said, "Strength In Numbers" is a great album and a wonderful trip down memory lane. The album also marked the end of an era for 38 Special. Two years later, the band regrouped with a new line-up without guitarist/singer Don Barnes. Barnes did return to the band a decade later bringing back its signature sound.
If you can find a copy of "Strength In Numbers" (as I was fortunate enough to find), pick it up. It's worth it."

Don Barnes rules (literally).

Birthe Jrgensen | Odense, Denmark | 08/26/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This, the last album to feature Don Barnes on lead-vocals before he left, is filled with great songs. The sound is poppier than ever before... and then again it's not. It's really only on the first hearing; then you realize there's plenty of hard hitting guitar-work. The band (or producer Keith Olsen) seem to have decided that Barnes' voice is better suited for these songs, than co-lead-singer Donnie Van Zant; and thus Barnes is now given the bulk of songs. And he is indeed one of the best in the trade. (-I've always loved the way he sometimes starts a line way deep.) My favorite album of theirs has always been "Tour De force", but this one comes very close. Too bad he left the band when he did; things were never to be the same again."

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	38 Special Strength in Numbers Genres: Pop, Rock, Classic Rock, Metal Track Listings (10) - Disc #1 Somebody Like You - .38 Special, Barnes, Don Like No Other Night - .38 Special, Barnes, Don Last Time Once in a Lifetime Just a Little Love Has There Ever Been a Good Goodbye One in a Million Heart's on Fire Against the Night Never Give an Inch
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