Hands in the Till

Fortress was a Los Angeles-based band that released their debut album, HANDS IN THE TILL, in 1981. Proudly and unabashedly taking cues from Journey, Foreigner, and Rush, the album is 12 stabs at pure AOR glory--the embodiment of everything to which punk was a reaction. However, the album is a winner in its enthusiastic embrace of trite radio rock. Ripe for head-banging sing-alongs, this is the sound of your older brother skipping school and hanging out at the lake. Fortress's charms prove to be enduring on this 2008 Rhino reissue.