Ah, ’80s production. No band escaped it. Ok, well maybe George Thorogood had. But no one else!
Released in 1985, Friction sees current trends from the day setting into Coney Hatch’s sound with more prominent keyboards and slick production. The band was aiming for a Foreigner-type hit with four songs (Fantasy, Girl From Last Night’s Dream, She’s Gone, and This Ain’t Love) released as singles. Unfortunately, none caught fire making Friction the last album from the band’s early ’80s run.
So, this is an easy review, right? Like many bands from the day, they screwed up by allowing trends to take over as they abandon their true sound in a chase for glory. Not so fast. Friction is much better than a subpar effort. Let’s break it down…
This Ain’t Love – B
Decent enough of an opener. The driving “heavy keys” opening makes it more 80s than anything they’ve done before.
She’s Gone– A
A great tune that is a little overproduced for my taste. I do prefer the live version of this song that lives on Live at The El Mocambo, but this is serviceable.
Wrong Side Of Town – A+
One for the rockers! You knew Andy Curran wasn’t going to let the entire album be a pop-rock fest.
Girl From Last Nights Dream – B+
I hate how this song panders to me with cliche hooks, yet it is darn catchy. Ah, just let it go and have some fun, right?
Coming to Get You – C+
This one is all over the place. Meh
Fantasy – A-
This opens the B side with a solid pop-rock song that would be better without the plastic keyboards, but… 1985. I’d love to hear the band play this live without them. Anyway, it should have been a hit, IMHO.
He’s A Champion – D
This is somewhere between Helix and Frank Stalone. Oof.
State Line – C
Driving rock songs such as these was a dime a dozen in the ’80s. Some cool guitar licks but not much really else stands out from the rest here.
Burning Love – B+
It sometimes sounds disjointed but then pulls back to something cool. Not a bad track to end on somewhat of a high note.
I’m admittedly not in love with all of its songs, but Friction is a darn good album overall. I’m not pleased with how Hatch dropped the AC/DC influence and embraced a more commercial sound, but I also can’t blame them for trying. Nearly every hard rock band from ZZ Top to Van Halen was having top 40 success with the trend at the time. As for the songs themselves, the ones that are good are quite good. I’m taken aback by how the singles did not chart better, since they sound as good (if not better) as anything from the same era to me. Well, maybe it was the timing of the release or promotion that screwed them over. If that is the case I’m sure deKe will let me know in the comments.
3.5/5
Unlatch more Hatch:
Coney Hatch
Outa Hand
Friction
Live at the El Mocambo
Canadian Grooves 
I really enjoy She’s Gone.
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Yep. That’s a good one.
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This is the one I love the most, regardless of the changes. Why? Because I became a Coney Hatch fan in 2020, bought the albums out of order, and fell in love with the one that was most similar to what I liked in the 80’s. Friction!
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Makes sense. This one is a little overproduced for me. But, you’ll be at home if that is what you are into.
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Yes exactly. For what I liked in that era, this is on point. Shame I never heard it then.
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From what deke has told me, this album got very little promotion. She’s Gone didn’t even get a video which I imagine would have received a lot of play on Much Music if it had. I’m just happy to have them now instead of never, lol
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She’s Gone should have been massive that year.
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Agreed.
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Are we getting to a diminishing return for you with each album…hmmm! I’ve listened to this one and I like it, but haven’t heard it enough to score it yet.
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Yeah, it is just a slight slide though. I don’t think any of these albums are bad. And their debut hard to top with it being strong as it is.
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Too be honest here I would bump this album up to a 4. So we’re close in score Kev. Coney got little promotion for Outta Hand and Friction which got less than Outta Hand. Music Express would keep me posted on the goings on as they were a Canuck mag at the time…
She’s Gone was a great track and of course Curran rips into the WSOT which gives the record a punch but they of course lost there deal when they were in Texas on the Friction Tour so I’m sure they know it was coming.
Back in 85 when this dropped it confused me as it was a melodic hard rock album but since that time (4 decades later!!) I have become an old man as I appreciate Friction a lot more…
I almost spit my cheerios out when I read the Helix/ Frank Stallone mashup lol…
Good stuff and cool that you did this as a series…
Well done man….
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I gave Outa Hand a 4 and I didn’t like this one as much, so 3.5. That’s how much thought I put into the review scores, lol For the most part, it is only the production that has me down on this album compared to the rest. The song writing is still quite good on most of the songs. And considering to what were hits in 1985, I’m baffled by how this did get more traction.
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It got no traction due to Friction! lol….fair scoring for sure if thats how you feel. But for me since I was onboard since the debut I was bummed when they broke up in 86.. it was like these guys were my Ontario backyard band as they weren’t much older and were on a level that wasn’t RUSH in popularity at that point. Good 2 see they are making up for lost time and its been great to see folks like you and Sarah get onboard thanks to my continuous fanboy babbling about them….
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Yeah, if it were not for you I’d probably still not know of them.
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My work here is done!
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Not all heroes wear capes, lol
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BAHAHAHAHA!!!!
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Sometimes going with the trends works, but other times it doesn’t. At least the album cover is cool!
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