Peter Frampton - Breaking All The Rules (1981) + Bonus Live Track

 (U.K 1966 - Present)

By the early 1980s, Peter Frampton was tired of being called the "romantic rock boy" and decided to make the most rocking, commercial and aggressive album of his career.  1981's 'Breaking All The Rules' broke all the barriers.

'Breaking All The Rules' has been Peter Frampton's lesser known / heard album in part due to the record company clumsiness to properly promote the record and because Frampton indeed broke some rules here; he decided to make a rocking LP instead a Top 20 hit generator.

Of course there's a brilliant sweet melody in the slow, touching 'Going To L.A.' which should have been a hit in the charts, but most the material here rocks, and pretty hard.

For this matter Frampton enlisted a terrific back-up band including the half of Toto; Steve Lukather & Jeff Porcaro.

Lukather trades some killer licks with Frampton (the title track is awesome) but also contributing with his trademark, distinctive rhythm guitar, while Porcaro provide his unique 'groove-touch' all over the recording.

A proof of the guitar driven nature of this album is the opener "Dig What I Say", starting the record in a rocking mood with solos all over it, something unusual for a Frampton release. Here he also uses guitar synth to good effect.  The cover of  "I Don't Wanna Let You Go" is done in an absolutely classic Frampton vein but even here the guitar swirls like never before. Check Porcaro's hi-hat fills here, a master in this game.

Written by the Alessi Bros 'Rise Up' is another tune with a hit potential, there's an elegant midtempo on 'Wasting The Night Away', a rocky version of the classic 'Friday On My Mind' (Originally released by the Easybeats), while 'Lost A Part Of You' is the ballad on the album with some hints to Frampton's hit single "I'm In You".

For the end we have the title track 'Breaking All The Rules', a seven minute tour de force plenty of killer riffs, a melodic verse and a superb Frampton / Lukather duel in an almost hard rocking piece.

Here, Frampton demonstrates all his skills not only as an excellent guitarist but also as a vocalist. The heavy sound is always commanded by Frampton 's guitar and his "warmer" and stronger voice gives a more bluesy tone to the music.

Despite not having sold even half as much as his famous "Comes Alive", "Breaking ..." is, without a doubt, Frampton's best studio album, and the title track, one of his best songs.

Interesting Side Note: 

Frampton released an album only in Brazil called 'Rise Up' in 1980, which had a similar track listing as 'Breaking All The Rules'. Frampton states:  "This album was released in Brazil to promote our tour there in 1980 - the album eventually turned into 'Breaking All the Rules', released the next year." 

However, the 'Rise Up' album featured an almost entirely different lineup of musicians and partially similar track listing.  

While touring Brazil, Frampton suffered a serious setback when all his guitars were thought destroyed in a cargo plane crash that killed four people. Among the instruments he lost was the black Les Paul Custom which he had named "Phenix" (pictured on the cover of Frampton Comes Alive) given to him by Mark Mariana and first used on the night of the recording of the Humble Pie live album Performance, and which he had used all through his early solo career. However, by shear luck, the guitar was recovered and returned to him in December 2011. 

And so 'Rise Up' eventually turned into Breaking All the Rules, released the next year in 1981. These albums were the first he recorded almost completely live. In 1982, following the release of 'The Art of Control', Frampton tried unsuccessfully to split his ties with A&M Records; he re-signed with the label in 2006 and released his Grammy Award–winning album 'Fingerprints'.  But that's another story !

This post consists of FLACS ripped from my vinyl and includes full album artwork for both CD and vinyl, along with label scans. One track that appeared on the Rise Up album (but not Breaking All The Rules) was a live recording of his hit single "I'm In You". I have therefore decided to include a live rendition of this track (taken from Frampton Comes Alive II) as a bonus track.

One thing that attracted me to this album when I first viewed it in the record store was the inclusion of the Easybeat's mega hit "Friday On My Mind", which by the way he has covered admirably. Of course, the killer title track is the highlight, in fact all of Side B is brilliant and the first side is almost as good.  Overall, this album is one of Frampton's best studio albums and should not be passed by.

Track Listing:

01 Dig What I Say 4:10

02 I Don't Wanna Let You Go 4:21

03 Rise Up 3:46

04 Wasting The Night Away 4:12

05 Going To L.A. 5:57

06 You Kill Me 4:13

07 Friday On My Mind  4:18

08 Lost A Part Of You 3:42

09 Breaking All The Rules 7:04

10 I'm In You (Bonus Live)   4:24

The Band:

Vocals – Peter Frampton

Backing Vocals – Arthur Stead, Steve Lukather

Bass Guitar – John Regan

Drums – Jeff Porcaro

Guitar – Peter Frampton, Steve Lukather

Guitar Synthesizer – Peter Frampton

Keyboards – Arthur Stead, Peter Frampton

Peter Frampton Link (275Mb)