The Day the Earth Caught Fire

Somewhere in the mid-to late 70's I stopped pretending I was a 'musical aristocrat' and allowed myself the chance to expand tastes. Although I never abandoned the visceral love for 'all-things peter gabriel' I did start to allow more rock and pop orientated music to influence my listening habits. Bands such as XTC, Split Enz, Roxy Music, Talking Heads, David Bowie, Supertramp and City Boy joined my traditional play list of 'progressive rock' and before I knew it my tastes had changed. I became a fan of City Boy after the release of "The Day The Earth Caught Fire" and quickly gobbled up everything I could find they had recorded. I had not enjoyed anything as powerful as TDTECF since Rushs' 2112 and was amazed at the writing, musicianship and production quality. I was hooked. The album stands as a firm reminder of a great period in my life and I am (obviously) nostalgic and melancholy listening to the CD today. For me, the album stands the test of time but I don't know that I could say the same if it wasn't so woven in my soul. I would consider two other City Boy albums which do stand the test of time better and are still masterpieces to pop. Those releases are their first two albums "City Boy" and "Dinner At The Ritz"