Artist
Boulevard
Canada · Formed 1983
Boulevard is a music group from Canada, active since 1983. Their discography on Gatefold includes 2 records.
2
Albums tracked
1
In collections
1983
Since
Biography
There are at least 4 bands with the name Boulevard. One from Germany/Canada, one from New Zealand, one from Finland and one from Denmark. 1) Randy Burgess (bass) Mark Holden (saxophone, vocals) David Forbes (lead vocals) Andrew Johns (keyboards) Randy Gould (guitar) Randall Stoll (drums) Tom Christianson (bass; replaced Burgess) Holden had been working in a recording studio in Frankfurt, Germany and an offer to open a new, multi-million dollar recording studio in Calgary gave him reason to return to Canada.
The Arc of Boulevard
The pivots — what forced Boulevard to reinvent.
The High-Gloss Studio Era
MCA bankrolled top-tier sessions in Los Angeles, setting up Boulevard with producer Pierre Bazinet and engineer Humberto Gatica to sculpt a flawless radio product. The 1988 debut Blvd. rode heavily on pristine DX7 textures, soaring gated reverb, and David Forbes pushing high notes against immaculate guitar layering. It scored immediate radio rotation across Canada and built a massive cult following among AOR purists who lived for ultra-clean session craft.
The Street-Level Pivot and Vanishing Act
For 1990's Into the Street, the band plugged in heavier amps, dialed down the gloss, and chased a punchier hard rock edge to compete on the live circuit. The songwriting got sharper and more direct, but industry politics and the sudden commercial collapse of radio-friendly arena rock left the record stranded without label backing. The group splintered shortly after, leaving two cult-status records behind to trade hands for insane prices on the collector market.
The Melodic Rock Resurrection
A run of European festivals like Firefest proved there was still a ravenous global audience waiting for these specific harmonies and hooks. The band reconvened in the studio to cut IV Luminescence in 2017, proving Forbes had not lost an inch of his vocal ceiling despite nearly three decades away from the tape machines. They stuck strictly to their classic melodic rock guns, completely unbothered by whatever modern production trends were happening outside the room.
Influences
- Toto — David Paich and Jeff Porcaro set the gold standard for high-end studio rock musicianship that Boulevard modeled their entire setup after. You hear it immediately in the tight rhythm section interplay and sophisticated chord voicings across the 1988 self-titled debut. They wanted that exact Los Angeles session-wizard punch.
- Journey — Steve Perry's arena-ready vocal phrasing is the direct blueprint for how David Forbes attacks the high register. Forbes constructs his melodic leaps and sustained belts directly from the Perry playbook, audible right away on 'In the Name of Love.' It is textbook arena-melodic vocal discipline.
- Survivor — Jim Peterik and Frankie Sullivan perfected the formula of punchy power-chords paired with driving keyboard arpeggios that Boulevard ran with. Tracks like 'Never Give Up' lean entirely on the chugging, inspirational hook style Survivor rode to the top of the charts. They took that midwestern drive and gave it a cleaner Canadian studio polish.
- Foreigner — Mick Jones wrote the book on balancing hard rock guitar riffs with heavy synthesizer hooks for FM radio. Boulevard lifted that dynamic whole on Into the Street, trading pure keyboard balladry for biting guitar tracks. It is the core framework behind their heaviest hooks.
- Loverboy — They broke the mold for Canadian arena rock acts getting heavy rotation on international radio in the early eighties. Boulevard followed in their direct slipstream, using massive gang vocals, punchy snare hits, and keyboard-led verses to secure domestic chart space before jumping across the border.
Discography
Their records — most-collected first.
Related artists
Members
Around the web
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