doesn't have a narrative like or , but cleverly designed the album as a sly satire of the recession and oil crisis that gripped America in the late '70s -- thereby satisfying his need to be a wry social commentator while giving American audiences a hook to identify with. It was a clever move that worked; not only did become their highest-charting American album (not counting the 1966 compilation), but it was also a fine set of , one of the better mainstream albums of its time. And it certainly was of its time -- so much so that many of the concerns and production techniques have dated quite a bit in the decades since its initial release. Nevertheless, that gives the album a certain charm, since it now plays like a time capsule, a snapshot of what sounded like at the close of the '70s. Perhaps not so coincidentally, ' songwriting fluctuates throughout the album, since it's dictated as much by commercial as artistic concerns, but the moments when he manages to balance the two impulses -- as on the -fueled the vaudevillian the roaring (possibly their best hard rocker of the era, by the way), and where takes on the persona of America itself -- are irresistible. may not have the depth of, say, , but it's a terrifically entertaining testament to their skills as a professional band and ' savvy as a commercial songwriter. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine