Electrola
91663
1984
A sunglasses-carrying member of the Roy Orbison/Ian Hunter shades club, former Argent vox-man and crack songwriter Russ ("Since You've Been Gone," "I Know There's Something Going On") Ballard breaks out with an ace band for another shot at the spotlight. "Voices" deservedly garnered dial time; and Ace Frehley, who hit big with Ballard's "New York Groove," returned to plunder the slattern "In the Night" for Frehley's Comet. Ballard himself blatantly rips the opening chords of "Who's Crying Now" for "The Last Time." He almost creates the Outfield on "Day to Day," but Ballard doesn't have the pipes. Russ Ballard won't knock you out of your socks, but he is a surprisingly strong guitarist and his songs maintain a high level of generic quality on both sides of this slab: a decent disc that goes everywhere but nowhere. Ballard's bizarre "fire" leitmotiv continues here.
-STONE, Cheap Trash NYC
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