Wild-Eyed Southern Boys/Special Forces in Bloomington, MN

BGO
's 2013 two-fer pairs
.38 Special
's two most popular albums: 1981's
Wild-Eyed Southern Boys
and its 1982 sequel,
Special Forces
. Working with songwriter
Jim Peterik
-- who penned the 1980 breakthrough "Rockin' Into the Night" and the hits "Hold On Loosely" and "Caught Up in You," which open
and
, respectively -- moved
into a hook-heavy, pop-laden, arena-rock direction, and this radio-friendly sound blended nicely with
Donnie Van Zant
's southern rock tradition, creating two high-water marks of early-'80s AOR that are conveniently available on this attractive, fine-sounding two-fer. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine