16 Strokes

Billy Squier deserves better. As in more respect, a bigger following, and certainly a more creatively packaged collection.

16 Strokes
Provided By:The Daily Vault

16 Strokes
Billy Squier
Capitol Records, 1995
REVIEW BY: Jason Warburg
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 12/30/2001
Billy Squier deserves better. As in more respect, a bigger following, and certainly a more creatively packaged collection.
Squier, who emerged as a solo artist after stints during the 70s in semi-anonymous Boston groups the Sidewinders and Piper, hit it big with two monster albums that sent him soaring to the top of the charts in the early '80s. He was the radio-friendly hard-rock man of the moment in 1981 and '82, scoring three top 35 hits in a matter of 18 months.
In essence Squier was a one-man wrecking crew, his vocals from the high-energy Steven Tyler-Robert Plant school, his guitar-playing from the melodic sledgehammer Joe Perry-Mick Ralphs school. But listening to this album it's hard not to catch another major influence. I'd be amazed if a guy who matched hard-edged guitars up with punchy, rhythmic synthesizer tones as often as Squier hadn't been listening carefully to what Ronnie Montrose and Gamma were doing in 1978, '79 and '80.
In any case, the first five tracks on this tight, fairly comprehensive collection tell the bulk of the Billy Squier story. If you were alive and listening to rock radio in the early '80s, you heard them: "The Stroke," "In the Dark," "My Kinda Lover," "Emotions In Motion," "Everybody Wants You." Memorable four-minute blasts of rousing guitar, wailing vocals and atmospheric synth fills, all taken from two huge albums, 1981's Don't Say No and 1982's Emotions In Motion.

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