Status Quo: The Best & Worst Albums

I’ve said it many times and I will say it again when Lancaster and coughlan left that’s when it went down hill because classic quo is indeed from 1970 to 84 that’s the quo people love and want and Down Down Caroline and Rockin all over the world are never off the radio !

As an American Status Quo fan in the 1970's, I'm intrigued by your choices. Personally I've been of the opinion that "On the Level" was probably their best album. (Even the august Stereo Review magazine gave "...Level" a positive review upon release.) Discographers take note: the "Blue for You" album was released in 1976 in the United States on the Capitol label with the title "Status Quo" replete with special packaging. Being an American fan had its advantages: I was able to get front row tickets in March of 1976 at the now-demolished Ford Auditorium for Quo's "Status Quo"/"Blue for You" American tour. Afterwards I was fascinated to realize that the band had the #2 album in Great Britain when I saw them.

Piledriver. The first album I ever bought. When I purchased it in 1974, I didn't understand a word of English. As I opened the album, I saw the lyrics and thought each line stood for a song. For a brief moment, I believed there were over 100 songs on that record. To this day, the short Rick Parfitt solo rhythm part in the middle of 'Don't waste my time' gives me goosebumps.

Status Quo was a unique band The duality between Parfitt and Rossi’s guitar playing is once in a lifetime They have more variety than AC/DC

The 70’s Quo is my favourite. I kind of jumped ship when entering the 80’s where Quo in my opinion turned more boring than a Genesis album.

Shame on you for not mentioning Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon. Its the most Quo sounding album of all .

My personal favourite is "Quo" by a million miles!!! Every track is a blinder but not really mentioned much in the great scheme of things, from the 12-bar goodness of "Backwater" thru "Just Take Me" (nicked by the Clash and transformed into "should I stay or should i go" Listen carefully) , the Oasis inspiring "Drifting Away" and my all time favourite Quo song (Apart from "Mean Girl") "Lonely Man", an unsung masterpiece!

My personal top 5 as Eric Morley would say in reverse order ... 5 . Blue for You 4. Piledriver 3. Dog of two Head 2. Hello 1. Quo

I was besotted with Quo back in the day. I remember my dad had a pub in the 70s with an old jukebox that he'd filled up with old country music, such as Hank Williams, Merle Haggard etc..... He had the Hank Thompson version of Wild Side Of Life on there, which I, naturally, replaced with the Quo version as soon as it came out. The look of disgust on the old man's face, the first time it blasted out, was a picture! 😂😆

I think Peel loved them because he couldn't stand all that Prog noodling, as he saw it. Quo had that Chuck Berry straight to the point rock and roll and they could cook up a storm. I think you've picked the best albums there Barry and that lovely picture of Rick at the end deserves a mention of his very decent solo album, Over and Out, recorded just before he died. I think he was probably the soul of the band, and him and Francis together at their peak made for a great rock double-act. They were never just about three chords; sometimes it was only two, as the joke went; but they knew what they were doing and few bands could follow them on stage. The Quo magic was joyous and exhilarating. Thanks Barry, and I enjoyed your interview with Francis recently.

Piledriver gets my vote as the best album. I first saw Quo in 1972 at a half empty hall at Hatfield Polytechnic, the leather-jacketed bikers at the front doing their dance - thumbs in the top of their jeans, moving their shoulders in time to the music. The band played their repertoire from the late 1960s and 1970/71. In My Chair blew me away (and probably my hearing too) by it's sheer bassy volume. A year later after the single Paper Plane was released they played the huge Wembley Empire/Arena. I turned up expecting to walk straight in but it was sold out and had to buy a ticket from one of the touts. Great days!

Great overview of Quo' s work ! Totally agree with your choices. The only album I missed is Dog of Two Head with one of Quo's best songs, Someone's Learning !! Great that you have mentioned Lonely Man, which I think is one of the most beautiful songs EVER !! The build up of this song, the amazing guitar solo and the ending are outstanding !

Concise survey of an unappreciated band, at least in N.America. I remember liking "Pictures of Matchstick Men", a psychedelic lollipop. Decades passed as I lived in Quo ignorance. Someone played me "Paper Plane" and I was hooked. Scored a helpful "5 Classic Albums" set of the five albums you highlighted. All wonderful, filled with crunching riffs and surprisingly introspective lyrics. I checked out their Eye catalogue and found much to enjoy... listening to the band drift from Nuggets-era psychedelia to stumble upon boogie Excalibur! I'm glad to hear you give some love to the later, QUID PRO QUO, an album packed to the gills with hooks. Great job and, yes, the "Liberty Lane" video is a corker!

Seriously good, no-nonsense analysis of Quo. As a fan for more than 40 years, I can just agree on everything said. And, I will go back to some of the later albums mentioned to rediscover some of the tracks there. Thanks a lot!

The one thing about Quo is that they were never afraid to experiment and change, despite the age-old criticism of all their material, 'sounding the same.' They did what they thought at the time would help to keep them relevant, and having enough faith in themselves to just go out there and do it, and to hell with the consequences. They just wanted to play good old rock 'n' roll music in their own inimitable style. So, when the 80's came along, they felt the need to tweak things, especially when it came to the keyboard section, (giving Andy Bown something to do other than runs and fills), but it really didn't work all that well. In fact, some of it sounded totally out of place. By the 90's, they'd kind of lost direction and went through the Wilderness Years, as I like to call it. Making albums, but not really trying to appeal to anyone other than die-hard fans. Then, their manager at the time had the bright idea of trying to recapture the success of their, 'Anniversary Waltz', singles that did well in 1990, but this time, producing an entire album of them. It didn't do their reputation any good and came across as, quite literally a, 'covers band.' It wasn't until 1999 and their, 'Under The Influence', album that the old sparks were starting to reignite. Only on a few of the numbers, mind you. Contractually obliged into having to do a couple more cover albums didn't help, but by 2002 and the, 'Heavy Traffic', album, they'd started getting back to the sound they once had. Time having taken its toll did mean they weren't quite as energetic as before, but nonetheless, they managed to pump the peddle on the gas a few times over the next decade, culminating in the, 'Quid Pro Quo', album.

As a heavy metal/hard rock fan I reckon Piledriver 1972 through to Never Too Late 1981 is their classic period. In my country Australia most people hopped off the Quo train after the Never Too Late album as it was the last top 40 charting album in Australia until the In The Army album in 1986.

Quo 1974 is my fav record and I love that album cover, very prog rock looking.

I'm so glad you included Backbone! Though I'm familiar with the wonderful seventies albums and many of the hits singles, it was Backbone that has made me a real fan of the band.

Excellent! I have binge-watched half a dozen of these this afternoon whilst sifting through my holiday photos! VERY useful. I value your judgement greatly after having watched! Post 1984 I wrote Quo off - Marguerita Time was the final straw! THIS review has woken me up to the fact that there ARE actually 3/4 worth listening to from later, 'Pantomime/Quo Lite days! I listened all 3 er 'Back2Back ( a terrible LP to boot!) and found them very listenable, so THANK YOU again for that ear-opener! John

I'm surprised that Dog of Two Head didn't make your cut or even a meritorious mention. I'm no Quo devotee and my love of this album might be associated with early 70's sixth form common room braggadocio, but it's there in my list just the same. Their's is a career of diminishing returns in which, in my opinion, the highwater mark is "Down the Dustpipe" - the sound of a summer long ago...