Capitol Records, 1985. Produced by Todd Rundgren.

The Tubes follow up to their commercial breakthrough "Outside/Inside" was a troubled project right from the start. Having broken into the top ten with their hit "She's a Beauty," the Tubes went against the wishes of their record company by insisting on having Rundgren produce the album instead of chart topping golden boy David Foster. Additionally, the band invested much of their profits into a new state-of-the-art recording studio, "Cavum Soni" - translation: "Sound Hole." Waybill, uncharacteristically concerned with pleasing Capitol Records, offered to record a solo album with Foster producing - a proposal that didn't bode well with his band. Capitol Records effectively buried both "Love Bomb" and Waybill's solo album by not promoting them upon their release - perhaps out of spite, perhaps in an attempt to teach the Tubes obedience to the hands that feed them, but certainly not because of the quality of the albums. The Tubes knew that "Love Bomb" was a great album, the fans knew, certainly Capitol Records knew, but Capitol was probably so exhausted from the constant ego clashes (which would certainly effect their upcoming contract renewal) that it would probably have been much easier to bury the albums, release the Tubes and Waybill from their contracts on the grounds that "Love Bomb" didn't sell, and not have to deal with them any longer. It's really too bad, because "Love Bomb" is a truly impressive album. While the first side picks up where "Outside/Inside" left off (commercial, radio-friendly ear candy), side two is a twenty minute pop masterpiece, and it is on the strength of this masterpiece that "Love Bomb" earns the highest rank on my list. Most of the members of the band get a chance to take over lead vocals (probably as a result of how the band felt about Waybill's solo album), and the music covers quite a bit of territory in its all-too-brief twenty minutes. Quite a bit of sampling is involved here, but the arrangement of the whole thing is fascinating. You'll be nearing the end of a song, when the bass line will change just a bit, then the drum pattern will alter itself, and the synthesizers and guitars come in in a different key - and before you know it you're in a new song. Then, without warning, you hear "Wooly Bully" coming out of your left speaker while "Theme from A Summer Place" glides out of the right speaker - yet they correspond beautifully. I've listened to side two of "Love Bomb" at least once a month for over ten years now and I still hear something new upon each listen. It is a remarkable album (or, at least, half an album), and it has become my favorite piece of music to listen to. No, the lyrics are not poetry, no it isn't what you could call avant-garde, but it is, in its own way, a unique artistic statement - truly original and very impressive. It helps to reaffirm my belief in rock and roll as an art form - at any given moment a band or artist that we're accustomed to not expecting very much from can exceed our expectations and present us with something daring, unique, experimental, and very, very, satisfying. It is unfortunate that this album cost the band their record deal, their studio, and in many ways the band itself (Waybill, Roger Steen, Rick Anderson, and Prairie Prince still tour occasionally with replacement players to fill the voids left by Bill Spooner, Vince Welnick, and synthesizer genius Michael Cotton, but it isn't the same), but at least the members of this band can hold their heads high with the knowledge that for one brief moment, no matter the cost, they ceased to be just another entertaining band with a funny travelling show. At some point during the recording of "Love Bomb" they graduated from that and became artists.

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