Billy Squier, Don’t Say No 30th Anniversary Edition

By Christian Lipski

When there’s a re-release of anything to be reviewed, the question is always there: what am I actually reviewing? Am I revisiting the material, or the re-packaging?

I have a feeling that what I should focus on are the new features, in this case the liner notes, the mastering, and the bonus tracks. But before that I will say there’s a reason Don’t Say No was chosen for reissue, and that’s because the songs are loud and ballsy but also sassy. I didn’t pick up the album for myself for many years after its release in 1981, but by that time I already knew most of the songs by heart. Like Foreigner 4 or Journey’s Escape, it permeated the airwaves that year.

The new booklet in the CD is well done: the essay “Never Say No: The Arrival of Billy Squier” by former Creem editor and Rolling Stone correspondent (and Squier’s high school classmate) Ben Edmonds, is fairly comprehensive for three-and-a-half small pages. Edmonds relates Squier’s beginnings with Andy Paley, and moves on to later projects, including the band Piper, before the first solo album.

As a major Squier fan, I appreciate the history lesson (ah, if only Brian May had been able to produce), though at times Edmonds’ praise is hyperbolic enough to make me wince. The inclusion of the lyrics is a major plus, as I can recall long stretches of time attempting to decipher “Lonely Is The Night.” The art underneath the CD tray is well-chosen, with newspaper clippings and ticket stubs collaged around a drawing of Squier.

The sound is very crisp, clear, and loud. I know next to nothing about mastering, but the stereo separation is nice and wide, with each instrument getting a voice if you care to listen for it. Everything sounds brand new.

The bonus tracks are about what you’d expect for a 30-(well, 29-)year old record: two live versions of songs from the album that were performed last year. I don’t recall if Squier had non-album songs as B-sides, and it’s possible that he didn’t. In any case, it’s certain that recordings right off last year’s soundboard will not cost nearly as much as the rights to studio performances.

Squier’s voice can’t quite hit the highest notes on “My Kinda Lover,” but his quiet guitar intro to the song is worth hearing, as are his still-sizzling solos. The live version of “The Stroke” approaches 15 minutes in length, with all the guitariness and excessive bombast that implies (e.g., it’s over a minute and a half before the classic drum beat begins). Squier and his drummer trade licks at the four-minute mark, and soon after Squier takes off on his own, with some impressive work from a 60-year-old. There’s some call-and-response with the audience that evolves into a deep dirty shuffle, Texas-style, before Squier finally brings the song home. It’s actually a good representation of the man in concert nowadays, so I’m not that disappointed about the lack of unreleased material.

It’s a decent repackaging from Shout! Factory, with the music rightly taking the focus, but supported by solid extras.

Don’t Say No 30th Anniversary Edition was released on July 27, 2010. Kids, learn a little bit about what made your parents get down.