THE BOX

Quebec's The Box's eponymous 1984 debut is by no means "progressive rock," but it is very likeable, often danceable and always intelligent. Keyboards, solid bass lines, a perhaps too-precise drum machine, and the thoughtful lyrics and winsome, Franco-everyman vocals of band leader Jean Marc are the mainstays, and make THE BOX an engaging slice of 80s pop which has aged very well.

Catchy, up-tempo songs such as "Weekend" and "Checkmate/Quand Le Roy" immediately caught my appreciative ears when I first heard them on Canadian public radio back in 1984, and I fondly return to them again and again, to this day. Other standout tracks include the poignant and lovely "War Going On," and "Walk Away," with its infectious guitar hook and lyrics of a weary office worker daydreaming wistfully of "an open field, in October, when the wind turns the sky to grey." "Great Summer Fair" is a haunting, nostalgic vignette from childhood, where the horses of a fair's merry-go-round "tortured by their slavery, condemned to run in circles" offer intimations of the regimented adult life that waits to stifle the wondering spirit of the child. (Jean Marc would revisit childhood and the loss of its innocence repeatedly is in his lyrics, a theme which will resonate with many adult listeners.)

THE BOX is a solid album of polished, feel-good 80s music that yet has considerable depth. It remains very dear to me. Music fans whose tastes extend to clever, well-crafted pop could do far worse than this fine disc. It's somewhere between quite good and excellent, and thus in the 3.25 - 3.49 star range.