Top 10: FireHouse Songs

As much as I love writing these retrospective Top 10s and From My Collection essays (from the amount of clicks they get, you must love them too), I sure hate doing so in the spirit of posthumous homage. Unfortunately, this week’s Top 10 is an example of such. Last Friday, April 5, FireHouse singer C.J. Snare passed away after a valiant battle with stomach cancer. He was 64 years old. Amidst his fight, we were lucky enough to catch Snare and the gang absolutely scorch the Arcada Theatre stage back in early 2022, the full review of which can be found here. As he belted out one high note after the next, one could never imagine this was a man fighting for his life. In honor of Snare’s legacy and the absolutely rad jams his band crafted, today we solemnly present to you our Top 10 FireHouse Songs. Rest in power C.J.!

10. “Lover’s Lane”

Kicking off our list at #10 is one of the few deep cuts off FireHouse’s blockbuster debut, “Lover’s Lane”. When you consider that the *ahem* “hair bands” of the ’80s were children of the ’70s, it’s no surprise the musical influences of said decade would sneak their way into the hard and heavy sounds of the day. “Lover’s Lane” is no exception, boasting an undeniable boogie swagger of ZZ Top or Foghat, albeit reimagined for the glam metal generation. Like their entire debut album, it’s fun, playful, and rocks hard, shuffling along with lethal sleaze and reckless abandon. Make no mistake, this one cracked many a teenage kegger mixtapes in ’90!

9. “You’re Too Bad”

Despite being released in the heart of the Nirvanapocalypse, FireHouse’s second album, Hold Your Fire (1992) performed rather well. The album was certified gold, selling in excess of 500k copies, and spawned a Top 10 hit in the power ballad, “When I Look into Your Eyes”. This entry, however, is not about that. No, coming in at #9 is the ballsy “You’re Too Bad”. Maybe it’s just me, but the melodies and riffs on here sound like what Skid Row would’ve sounded like had they expanded upon their debut instead of doing a 180 with Slave to the Grind (1991). Dare I call it pissed off by FireHouse standards? Indeed, I do, but it’s still too damn catchy to ignore.

8. “Get a Life”

By the release of 1995’s 3, FireHouse were the Last of the Mohicans. Not only were they one of the few glam metal bands still signed to a major label, but they were the only one still playing their original sound, refusing to bow to the idol gods of grunge and groove metal. And you know what? God bless ’em for that. Heaven knows there were far too many Nirvana clones popping up left and right by ’95. The last thing we needed was another. So instead, FireHouse did what they did best: Full tilt boogie speed metal in the vein of prime Van Halen. What? OK folks, “Get a Life” is admittedly an outlier, but boy does it smoke. If you didn’t know any better, one might confuse it for a lost NWOBHM 7 inch circa ’80.

7. “Don’t Treat Me Bad”

In a time when glam metal was becoming more style over substance, there’s a reason FireHouse’s debut sold over 2 million copies. Their knack for penning lighthearted, feelgood, hook-laden hard rock that stuck in your head for days on end was untouchable. Exhibit A: “Don’t Treat Me Bad”. At its core, this is an infectious power pop tune drawing heavily from the likes of Cheap Trick and Raspberries. Add some ripping lead guitars, gang vocal harmonies, and an arena sized production and you’ve got one of the biggest rock radio hits of ’90. If this one doesn’t wanna make you open your sunroof and crank up the volume, I don’t know what would.

6. “Hold Your Fire”

It’s no wonder “Hold Your Fire” was chosen to be the title track of FireHouse’s sophomore outing. Besides the obvious pun and visual aesthetic that could accompany it, the song itself is a punchy rocker with brute force riffing and a huge singalong chorus. By no means were FireHouse reinventing the wheel here. Hold Your Fire is essentially a continuation of where they left off with the debut, and the songs are almost equally as memorable. Like I said earlier, this was a band who stuck to their guns and never capitulated to the flavors of the day.

5. “Don’t Walk Away”

As successful as FireHouse were at penning hit ballads, this is the closest you’ll see to one on here. While “Don’t Walk Away” was never released as a single, it did receive significant airplay on rock radio as an album cut, which probably made the suits at Epic scratch their heads. “That bluesy Gary Moore-esque jam? That’s no hit!” Try again! Indeed, Bill Leverty’s solo on here screams Moore, as do the hooks and melodies, which is what largely adds to its charm. The only reason I can fathom why FireHouse didn’t do more of these slower, bluesier cuts is to avoid being lumped in with the rising crop of Whitesnake worship bands.

4. “All She Wrote”

If you could, please allow my “too young to be a millennial, too old to be gen z” ass to introduce this next entry in the form of a meme…

Nobody:
Not a single soul:
Me: “BYE BYE BABY BYE BYE!”

The good folks at Everything Glam Metal are likely cooking up visuals to accompany this sentiment as we speak. Anyways, back to the song, and what a song it is. “All She Wrote” is everything perfect about second wave glam metal wrapped up into sugary ball of brilliance. Over the top gang harmonies? Check. Melodic onslaught? Check. Totally tubular guitars? Check. The chorus to end all other choruses? Damn right. If I didn’t put “All She Wrote” on this list, it would slap me across the face and call me a false glamster. THAT was all she wrote!

3. “Helpless”

Only in a world where Diamond Head exists is this the second best song titled “Helpless”. If you ever felt this barn burner, or rather house burner, boasted a heavier, almost Judas Priest-esque edge to it, you wouldn’t be mistaken. “Helpless” was first released in ’86 as a single by FireHouse’s predecessor, White Heat. The only difference between this original version and the ’90 rerecording is a rawer production, but we definitely feel the US steel of Snare’s original outfit, Maxx Warrior, as well, on both version for that matter! Also, can we take a second to appreciate the fact that White Heat’s bassist bore the pseudonym Rich Bitchin? I wonder what he’s up to today. Could you imagine going to your local WalMart and Richard, the sixty something year old greeter, was once Rich Bitchin of White Heat? Totally wild!

2. “Reach for the Sky”

I remember when Ratt got the Top 10 treatment and I labelled “Nobody Rides for Free” as perhaps the first and only example of “epic glam metal” (Heaven forbid I magically conjure up a new subgenre). Well, here’s another one we can add to the eventual “epic glam metal” playlist. “Reach for the Sky” is such an intense, anthemic, and powerful number that one can’t help but wonder why it didn’t receive the honor of the second album’s title track. Again, I can only assume it’s because “Hold Your Fire”, FireHouse…you get it. All that said, “Reach for the Sky” makes me want to do exactly that and more, its epic glam greatness only overshadowed by…

1. “Overnight Sensation”

The year is 1990. It’s a Saturday night and you’re a teenage rocker with not a care in the world aside from getting laid and getting high. As you embark upon your hedonistic conquest, you pop in the debut cassette from FireHouse, and as this blasts your eardrums to the point of oblivion, you remember why you’re a weekend warrior in the first place. Granted, I wasn’t even a thought when “Overnight Sensation” was first released, but every time I hear it, my blood boils with unbridled excitement and the speedometer always manages to go at least 25 MPH over the limit. In many ways, “Overnight Sensation” can be viewed as FireHouse’s theme song, the band themselves going from virtually unknown to MTV staples, well, overnight. The world was a better place for it. To all those in the FireHouse camp who may be reading this, I send you my sincerest condolences and thank you dearly for the music!