Firehouse

Emerging near the close of the pop-metal surge spanning the late 1980s and early 1990s, Firehouse issued their debut album in 1991. The lineup blended vocalist C.J. Snare with Michael Foster, Bill Leverty, and Perry Richardson, delivering melodic commercial hard rock that quickly registered on the charts; the self-titled first release reached platinum certification and contained two Top 20 singles, “Don’t Treat Me Bad” and “Love of a Lifetime.” In 1992 the band followed with Hold Your Fire, their second album, which earned gold status propelled by the Top Ten hit “When I Look Into Your Eyes.” Yet the broader audience had turned toward a louder, grungier strain of hard rock, causing Firehouse’s popularity to decline through the remainder of the decade.

After a three-year interval the group unveiled Firehouse 3, adopting a gentler, more MOR-oriented approach that found favor on adult contemporary stations. Good Acoustics appeared the next year, and in 1999 Firehouse returned with Category 5 plus the live album Bring ’Em Out Live. The concert recording documented a performance in Japan, where the band retained its following despite changing tastes at home. O2 surfaced a year later, while Prime Time arrived in 2003.