By 1977 had reached a creative crossroads, with three underwhelming studio albums under their belt and little to show in the way of commercial success. At the prodding of manager , who felt a major shakeup was needed in order to reignite their spark, the band was convinced to audition and eventually recruit the services of former vocalist . Sure enough, adding him to the band just prior to the sessions for proved to be a stroke of genius, and a move that undeniably altered the course of history for the fledging Bay Area act. Released in January of 1978, easily proved to be the band's most cohesive work to date. Dead and buried were the overtones of previous offerings, and with the new songwriting combo of / leading the march, the band set out to completely redefine their sound. arrangements were now adopted, cutting out the unnecessary musical fat, and allowing each bandmember to play to his strength: 's soaring, whale of a voice, 's scorching fret work, and 's subtle keyboard arrangements. Enlisting eccentric producer (already famous for guiding the likes of and to giant commercial triumphs of their own) also proved to be a rewarding move for the boys. With newfound confidence, crafted a record that could finally land them on the radio. Loaded with future FM staples like (which hit the Top 50 in April of 1978), (which quietly peaked at number 68 that August), and (pretty much a flop, crawling to number 83 in July), introduced to an entirely new audience. Even non-singles like (the first tune ever wrote with ) and were leaps and bounds beyond the band's previous accomplishments. And, ultimately, though merely introduced the band to mainstream radio (it was the never-ending tour on which the band embarked on to support it that drove the disc past the platinum plateau), it effectively cemented their rep as one of America's most beloved (and sometimes hated) commercial bands. With over 170 shows under their belts, had just begin to hit their stride. [ was reissued in 2006, housed in a fancy digipack with an expanded booklet.] ~ John Franck & Ed Rivadavia