Bachman-Turner Overdrive – Not Fragile

Not Fragile is the third album from Bachman-Turner Overdrive, the hard rock band that Randy Bachman eventually settled into after leaving the Guess Who. The title was a not-so-subtle response to Yes's 1971 prog rock masterpiece, Fragile, and a comment on the sturdiness of BTO's music.

Not Fragile topped the Canadian album charts and placed two singles in the top 10, "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" (#1 Canada, #1 US) and "Roll on Down the Highway" (#8 Canada, #14 US). It won the 1975 Juno Award for Best Selling Album, while Randy Bachman won Producer of the Year and the band was named Group of the Year. Even the critics, generally not big fans of the band, were generally warm to Not Fragile:

• AllMusic gave it 4.5 stars out of 5, saying "for hard rock fanatics, it doesn't come much better"
• Bob Mersereau ranked in 41st in The Top 100 Canadian Albums
• CBC Radio named it the 40th Greatest Canadian Album Ever in 2013
• Robert Christgau graded it a B, saying "I love every stolen riff, if not every original one"
• Rolling Stone Album Guide gave it 3 stars out of 5 (the earlier New Rolling Stone Record Guide had given it only 2 stars)

I'm pretty sure it was my brother Tim's friend Fred Mitchell who introduced me to this band and convinced me to like this album in particular. Although I own several other BTO albums, this is the only one that I still play.

Click on a heading below to toggle more information.

Track Listing

1. "Not Fragile" (C.F. Turner) – 4:05
2. "Rock Is My Life, and This Is My Song" (Randy Bachman) – 5:00
3. "Roll on Down the Highway" (C.F. Turner, Rob Bachman) – 3:56
4. "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" (Randy Bachman) – 3:54
5. "Free Wheelin' (Dedicated to Duane)" (Blair Thornton) – 3:44
6. "Sledgehammer" (Randy Bachman) – 4:30
7. "Blue Moanin'" (C.F. Turner) – 3:42
8. "Second Hand" (Randy Bachman) – 3:30
9. "Givin' It All Away" (Blair Thornton) – 3:46

Personnel

• C.F. Turner – bass guitar, lead vocals (on 1, 3, 6, 7, 9), background vocals
• Randy Bachman – lead guitar, lead vocals (on 2, 4, 6, 8, 9), background vocals
• Blair Thornton – 2nd lead guitar, background vocals
• Rob Bachman – drums, percssion
• Frank Trowbridge – slide guitar (on 7)