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Some high point tracks dragged down by blandness
Review written by John Fitzgerald, March 31st, 2005
Rick Vito is listed as playing guitar on this album but the liner notes do not state which song(s) he's on. The opening "Sitting on the outside" is a crashing funk attempt on which the howling vocals sound forced, "Can't get home" is a bland mid to up tempo pulser, "Step in the sun" is homespun tapping chirp, "To match the wind" is a 12 bar shuffle which goes through the motions with no feeling, "Sweet Scorpio" is a good straight ahead rock song but it's crashing cymbals hide any instrumentation that could've helped in leading us the way. "Driving on" is a fast galloping track with hard harp puffing busyness. Surprisingly, "Taxman blues" is a standout here as a likable fiddle led bouncer, "So much to do" is the longest track present, at over six minutes, with a thin picking one and half minute guitar solo (hard to say if it would be Rick or not) this is the closest we get to
improv here. This cowbell tonking stomp could've been better. "My train time" is one of Mayall's better and most effective train sounding harmonica led chargers making this a highlight as well. The closing "Respectfully yours" is a nice easy laid back pop track, sensitive and yearning. On the whole, although side two is an improvement on side one for the most part, "New year new band new company" kind of says it all, as nothing else is really new here sorry to say, it's all been done before and mostly better elsewhere.