Back before they became soft rock chart toppers (with hits such as Every Day Hurts and My Oh My), they were quite a rockin’ outfit with an eye firmly on America. Ironically, this album wasn’t released in America until much later. In their softer moments Steely Dan spring to mind, but with a British rock edge. This is their first album and I originally bought it when it first came out in ’77 after seeing them on the Whistle Test, and I still enjoy giving it a spin today. Hailing from Manchester, vocalist Paul Young would later go on to sing with Mike And The Mechanics until his untimely death in 2000.
Tracks such as Hungry Eyes and Sail On show the soft rock pathway they would take later with subsequent albums, but overall this album does rock. Opening track, Babylon, has a great melody and guitar from Ashley Mulford. Side 1 is given over to the more softer side of the band, whereas Side 2 could be described as Prog – especially with the weird intro to The Further Adventures Of Mad Alan, which then leads into the killer title track, Fanx Ta-Ra. With its heavy sounding opening, to the Santana style middle section, this is a great track. My other favourite moment on the record is Clumbidextrous, which is an instrumental – apart from a brief spoken section at the beginning. This track would have made it onto any Prog band’s album of the period.
Not a bad album at all and would set them on the road for success – although is does sound a bit dated.
7.5/10 from The Grooveman.
