I’ll admit to not being the world’s biggest Sam The Sham fan. Hell, I’d goe as far to say I positively hate the guy. He is one of the luckiest guys around, and has made his name by leeching off the talent of others. He has a half decent voice, and his lyrics are 12 year old school boy at best. So why did you buy this I hear you ask? Well, the band musically are killer, and live they were amazing – once I got past the aerobic keep fit nonsense from the singer. If you surround yourself with quality you can’t fail right? Joe Satriani on guitar, Chad Smith on drums and Michael Anthony on bass. That’s one hell of a line up to be in front of.
Last Temptation is a good solid opening track and rocks hard. Alright Alright is an ok tune, but the endless singing of the chorus gets a bit grating. Different Devil is next and is a typical Hagar solo tune. Up Next is…well err…Up Next, and is similar to the jam style tunes that were on the first record – it has a nice groove and some nice playing from Joe. Lighten Up closes out Side 1 and starts quite interesting with the Hammond effect on Joe’s guitar, but it turns into a straight up rock tune.
Side 2 kicks off with wimp ballad city with Come Closer. Three And A Half Letters was Hagar’s attempt at writing about the social climate and the economy. Big Foot was the lead off single and gets joint best track on the album award. A great riff from Joe, and the killer groove from Chad and Mike really drives this song along. Dubai Blues is next up and is the other great track on the album. Again, it has that loose jam feel to it which is when this band is cooking. Great playing all around. The last track, Something Going Wrong, is quite a chill ending to what is a fairly rocking album.
This record is not as good as the first album, which is a shame, as that was going in the right direction.
7/10 from The Grooveman.
