For the most part this is a great sounding record. It is a product of its time, with stylised 70's rock drumbeat and bass line, overlaid by Dave Meniketti's smooth vocals and guitar licks. The blues rock roots are evident in songs like "25 Hours a Day" with the vocal/guitar trade off sequences, to the obvious Kiss influences in "Game Playing Woman", where you can here Gene Simmons in Meniketti's vocals as he sings it, and perhaps even more so on "Come on Over". Those two songs in particular could have been Kiss songs. On the other side of the coin, "My Heart Plays Too" is a dreary ballad of the type that makes me shudder. Sleep inducing boredom and a bit too kitsch for my liking.
This is redeemed by the excellent "Earthshaker", perhaps the first real indication of the star quality this band has. Whenever I listen to "Alcohol", I feel like I'm watching a re-run of The Dukes of Hazzard. It is just dripping of that standard style of song from the 70's. That's okay, after all it is when it was written and recorded, but there is absolutely no doubt what era this album comes from. Better is to come with "Beautiful Dreamer", a jaunty track dominated by one of those long 70's guitar solos in the second half of the song, a beauty from Meniketti to end the album.
While it may not be to everyone's taste, it is still an interesting comparison point, to hear what the band sounded like at the start of their career, compared to their high point of early 80's hard rock/metal sound, to the glam rock they converted to in the late 90's. It isn't an album I dive for very often, but there is still enough here for me to appreciate the start of what has become a long and (somewhat) stellar career.
Rating: I'm a cold, cold heartbreaker 3/5
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