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Life on the Line

{{for|the 2015 film|Life on the Line (film)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox album

| name = Life on the Line

| type = Studio

| artist = Eddie and the Hot Rods

| cover = LifeOnTheLine.jpg

| alt =

| released = 20 December 1977

| recorded =

| venue =

| studio = Regents Park Studios, St. Johns Wood, London

| genre = Pub rock

| length = 34:53 – 1:07:01

| label = Island

| producer = Ed Hollis

| prev_title = Teenage Depression

| prev_year = 1976

| next_title = Thriller

| next_year = 1979

| misc = {{Singles

| name = Life on the Line

| type = studio

| single1 = Do Anything You Wanna Do"/"Schoolgirl Love

| single1date = 29 July 1977

| single2 = Quit This Town"/"Distortion May Be Expected

| single2date = 16 December 1977

| single3 = Life on the Line"/"Do Anything You Wanna Do (Live)

| single3date = 10 March 1978

}}

}}

Life on the Line is the second studio album by English rock band Eddie and the Hot Rods. The album was mixed by Ed Hollis and Steve Nicol, produced by Ed Hollis, and engineered by Steve Lillywhite.

Life on the Line reached number 27 on the UK Albums Chart.{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/15852/eddie-and-the-hot-rods/|title=Eddie and the Hot Rods|publisher=Official Charts Company|accessdate=4 February 2018}} The album featured three singles: "Do Anything You Wanna Do", which peaked at number 9 on the UK Singles Chart, "Life on the Line", and "Quit This Town", which reached number 36.

The song "Do Anything You Wanna Do" was covered by Manfred Mann's Earth Band for their Criminal Tango album (1986).

Critical reception

{{Album ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=life-on-the-line-mw0000608462|pure_url=yes}}|title=Life on the Line – Eddie & the Hot Rods|publisher=AllMusic|accessdate=22 June 2016|last=Thompson|first=Dave|author-link=Dave Thompson (author)}}

| rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide

| rev2score = B−{{cite book|chapter=Eddie and the Hot Rods: Life on the Line|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=6773|accessdate=4 February 2018|title=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|title-link=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|publisher=Ticknor and Fields|year=1981|isbn=0-89919-026-X}}

|rev3 = Record Mirror

|rev3score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite news|last=Cain|first=Barry|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Record-Mirror/70s/77/Record-Mirror-1977-11-12.pdf|title=Review: Eddie and the Hot Rods — Life on the Line|work=Record Mirror|date=12 November 1977|access-date=16 May 2021|page=12|via=American Radio History|issn=0144-5804}}

}}

The Globe and Mail concluded: "This band is so topical, so accurate on contemporary street feeling (the alternation between active-passive is scary but authentic), that Life on the Line qualifies as more than a collection of tunes; it's a document that pegs 1977 as it hasn't yet been pegged."{{cite news |last1=McGrath |first1=Paul |title=Life with the Hot Rods |work=The Globe and Mail |date=21 Dec 1977 |page=F8}}

Track listing

  1. "Do Anything You Wanna Do" (music: Graeme Douglas; lyrics: Ed Hollis) – 4:19
  2. "Quit This Town" (music: Graeme; lyrics: Hollis, Douglas) – 2:27
  3. "Telephone Girl" (music: Paul Gray, Steve Nicol; lyrics: Barry Masters) – 2:28
  4. "What's Really Going On" (music & lyrics: Gray) – 2:17
  5. "Ignore Them (Still Life)" (music: Douglas; lyrics: Hollis) – 4:43
  6. "Life on the Line" (music: Douglas, Gray; lyrics: Hollis) – 4:04
  7. "(And) Don't Believe Your Eyes" (music: Douglas; lyrics: Hollis) – 3:35
  8. "We Sing... The Cross" (music: Douglas, Gray, Nicol) – 2:48
  9. "Beginning of the End" (music & lyrics: Dave Higgs) – 8:17

;2000 reissue bonus tracks

  1. "I Might Be Lying" (Dave Higgs) – 5:16
  2. "Ignore Them (Always Crashing in the Same Bar)" – 3:34
  3. "Schoolgirl Love" (Douglas, Masters) – 3:21
  4. "Till the Night Is Gone (Let's Rock)" – 3:13
  5. "Flipside Rock" (With Robin Tyner) – 2:39
  6. "Do Anything You Wanna Do" (Live) – 4:05
  7. "What's Really Going On" (Live) (Douglas, Hollis) – 2:17
  8. "Why Can't It Be" (Live) (Higgs) – 2:39
  9. "Distortion May Be Expected" – 5:07

Personnel

;Eddie and the Hot Rods

  • Barrie Masters – lead vocals
  • Graeme Douglas – lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals, 12-string guitar and organ on "(And) Don't Believe Your Eyes"
  • Dave Higgs – rhythm guitar, backing vocals, Mellotron on "Beginning of the End"
  • Paul Gray – bass, backing vocals
  • Steve Nicol – drums, percussion, backing vocals

;Technical

  • The Rods, Graeme Douglas, Steve Lillywhite - assistant production
  • Ed Hollis, Steve Lillywhite - mixing
  • Steve Lillywhite - engineer
  • Edward Barker, Keith Morris - design, photography

Charts

class="wikitable"

!Chart (1977)

!Peak
position

UK Albums Chart

|align="center"|27

;Singles

class="wikitable"

!Year

!Single

!Chart

!Position

rowspan="2"|1977

|rowspan="1"|"Do Anything You Wanna Do"

|rowspan="3"|UK Singles Chart

|align="center"|9

rowspan="1"|"Quit This Town"

|align="center"|36

rowspan="1"|1978

|rowspan="1"|"Life on the Line"

|align="center"

References

{{reflist}}

{{Eddie and the Hot Rods}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1977 albums

Category:Eddie and the Hot Rods albums

Category:Island Records albums