The definitive
NRBQ
lineup --
Terry Adams
on keys,
Al Anderson
on guitar,
Joey Spampinato
on bass and
Tom Ardolino
on drums -- made their studio debut on 1977's
All Hopped Up
, but it was
At Yankee Stadium
, released the following year, where this edition of the band really hit its stride. Recording for
Mercury Records
after four years back in the minor leagues,
is more focused and less willfully eccentric than many of
's albums -- no
Sun Ra
-influenced
jazz
numbers, fewer obvious joke tunes -- but the music gleefully reflects the band's playful nature, and the guys swing solidly from front to back.
rock out like on one's business on
"Green Lights,"
"It Comes to Me Naturally"
and a potent cover of
Johnny Cash
's
"Get Rhythm,"
there's a gently funky sway to
"Ain't No Free"
and
"That's Neat, That's Nice,"
"I Want You Bad"
is a sharp
pop
tune that should have been a hit single in a world where radio is programmed on the basis of merit, and the spirit of
Big Joe Turner
lives again in their take on
"Shake, Rattle and Roll."
was also blessed with three first rate songwriters during this period, and
Adams
,
Anderson
Spampinato
all contribute great songs to
. Coupled with the band's loosely-tight, gloriously intuitive performances, this is as consistently satisfying a set as this band has ever released --
jumps from one style to another with loopy elan and lands on its feet dancing all the way, and if the Q has ever made a masterpiece, this is it. ~ Mark Deming