"A friend of mine recently quipped "Hmmm, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Bruce Cockburn... Canadians make great folk music, but how many good Canadian *rock* artists have there been, other than Rush? Bryan Adams? Corey Hart?" Well, here's my answer. TPOH never really hit it big, but they really should have, especially with this album. Moe Berg and friends took some fairly obvious cues from Todd Rundgren's early '80s work with Utopia, fattened it up to a later '80s sound, and pulled off some killer hooks and melodies. Rundgren produced this album, of course, and it has his signature densely-layered feel. Check out the perfectly-layered background vocals on Ten Fingers and When the Sky Comes Falling Down, the hilariously candid lyrics of Looking for Girls and I'm An Adult Now, the driving polyrhythms of Walking in the Woods, the expansive, almost-prog-like Tree of Knowledge, and the near-perfect Rubber-Soul era Beatle imitation She's So Young. This is the '80s mega-hit that never was. Crank it up."
I love this album
J. White | 06/22/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Throughout my life I have tended to ignore my older albums in my constant quest for new music. Love Junk by TPOH has always been exception. I thought there must be something wrong with me because I kept going back to listen to this one. In my opinion this may be one of the most unfairly ignored albums of all time. I am glad to see that there are a few others out there who share my opinion. My personal favorites on this album are "Man's Best Friend", "Hard To Laugh", "Beautiful White", and "I'm An Adult Now"."
A thoroughly worthy effort
Charles Sikkenga | Grand Haven, MI USA | 08/20/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I guess TPOH could've been North America's answer to the Hoodoo Gurus. I mean hey, they were catchy as heck and they rocked. Unfortunately,like those Aussies, they were also too smart and funny for the mainstream, but a little too mainstream for the edgy crowd,and those that remember their 15 minutes of mainstream fame back in the late fall of '88, probably think they were a novelty band.
Which is a shame, as the totally awesome "Love Junk" amply displays. It contains the closest thing the band ever had to a hit "I'm An Adult Now." With its half-sung, half-spoken lyrics, humorous outlook and over the top guitars, it comes off as something as a gag--sort of a thinking man's take on "Fight For Your Right To Party." Yet, behind it all are lyrics that ring increasingly true the older you get. For this aging rocker the song was great when I was 18, better when I was 28 and, I suspect, will be more meaningful yet when I turn 38 next year. The only downer about it is I can never find it at a Karaoke bar.
Its also a shame that few dug deeper than the one track, as several others, especially the power pop gem "She's So Young" are completely excellent. They're convincing on both the ballads and the harder stuff (especially lead track "Hard To Laugh") and the entire album features really sweet boy/girl harmonies. Todd Rundgren's production polishes things to a super-glossy sheen, but those production values have held upper better than a lot of other stuff from the era and the album still sounds quite fresh today.
Even if you don't listen to loud music anymore, its more than worth your time and money to get reacquainted with this one."
How to spot a classic in the I-Pod age
M. Emrich | Denver, Co. | 05/21/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"So I'm going through my old CD collection and loading songs up on my 40 gig (every song you could possibly want) monster, and I pull this disc out for the first time in at least 5 years. What a revelation. I put every song except "Killed by Love" on the I-Pod. I haven't done that with too many discs. Along with really catchy power pop tunes; there are brilliant lyrics throughout. "I'm an adult now" was the single and it is a great song, but it is far from being the standout cut."She's so young", "Conciousness raising as a social tool", and "Beautiful White" are my 3 faves. The chorus of "She's so young" is classic. "She's so young , she' got the answers. She doesn't need to question herself like I do." As my child grows into a teenager that line will begin to take on a different meaning than it did the first time I heard fifteen or so years ago. Whatever happened to these guys anyway? Great group."
One of the best Canadian exports
Stratman672001 | Maine | 07/04/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I got this CD back in '89 (when hair metal bands and NKOTB had a lock on the charts) and was thoroughly blown away. Smart songwriting, great hooks and some awesome harmonies dominate this release. It's hard to single out any one song as a high or low point as this is a very consistantly good CD. The thing that is baffling is that this album should have stormed the charts over here but it didn't even make a dent. It did go platinum in Canada but I think it just barely made gold status here (Gold hasn't really meant anything since the early eighties) if that. What makes that weirder is that everyone I played this to loved it right away (and alot of them were into the hair bands) and promptly asked "How come I've never heard of them?" As far as I know this album had little to no promotion here in the states which is too bad (subsequent albums got even less attention) as I think this would be regarded as a classic power pop album by now... It is to me. Sadly, with the lack of sales, this means that all their releases are out of print (although I think that this one is still available in Canada) which in turn means that finding their stuff may be a chore as I have never seen anything in the used bins (Probably easier in the big cities). But the reward from this album is worth the search. Their second, "One Sided Story", is only a half step behind "Love Junk". "The Downward Road" (Their third) while good, lacks the spark of the first two and can be a bit depressing in comparison but is still worth looking for. Never heard the last two so I can't comment on them. Now, start digging."