When the album starts, and it jumps straight into a synth keyboard strut, those worst fears appear realised within seconds. What follows is confirmation of everything that it could be. Pure 1980's vanilla, those four and five way harmony backing vocals, for the most part drowned in synthesizer, with the guitars almost taken out of the plot, given only an occasional solo break to make themselves be known, which for the most part are used rather lamely. Then we have Paul's vocals themselves. They are fine. They are strong. But there is no effort to push themselves either. He mostly stays within a very comfortable range. His vocals at the very beginning of "Tales of the Unexpected" just aren't his at all, and it is at this point that all hope is lost. Paul reaches out, to which he tries to emote in a way that will be attractive to the audience that this album is obviously striving for, the harmless middle-aged people who like to sit and listen to their stereo at a low volume from the comfort of their armchairs. Because this is what it is. It isn't elevator music, it is comfort music. There is no aggression, nor is there anything containing unsubtle hints to the lady-folk. It is the calm and relaxing conversation on the phone between people rugged up in front of the fireplace.
Whether it is a bad album or not becomes somewhat irrelevant by the fact that it sounds exactly like a thousand other bands' albums' of that era (and before and since for that matter), and that is the sad part about it. I don't think the direction is as disappointing as the fact that it doesn't do ANYTHING to make it stand out from the pack. What market are they looking for here? Radio friendly rock? Because Journey is better than this, Chicago is better than this, Foreigner is better than this. New Wave? Spandau Ballet is better than this. Human League is better than this. You know you have a problem when the best song on the album is a rather pacey version of oft-covered "Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", which is a bonus track on the CD release only.
I can see a pattern as to why this occurred. By 1984 the New Wave of British Heavy Metal was over. Those bands that hadn't busted out had now dissipated. No doubt Di'Anno was also looking for something that wouldn't associate him with his previous band. He probably wanted to show he was versatile, that he could do more material than fast punk heavy metal. There was also a chance to try and merge in to the success of a more commercial hard rock sound such that Def Leppard had begun to tap into, and the synth-driven radio friendly pop songs that were plagiarising and filling the radio airwaves. Or perhaps I'm way off the mark, and this was just the album this band wanted to record and promote. Whichever way you look at it, success wasn't what came. The album didn't chart in the top 100 anywhere, and after a tour where Di'Anno refused to play any Iron Maiden songs in the set (something that changed markedly forever not long after) they went their separate ways to other ventures.
Di'Anno himself went back to what he was renown for, and in bands like Battlezone and Killers he rediscovered his mojo. By doing so, he confined this album to the mothballs of history, a place where he no doubt feels comfortable with it being. As a historic remnant it is an album that is worth hearing if only to prove that Di'Anno can sing in a different register than he is generally known for. But once you have heard this, I can't say that I expect too many people to revisit it in the future.
Rating: We can do what you want us to... Yeah... no... I don't think so. 1.5/5
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