Shaun Cassidy
's
pop/rock
career had effectively peaked when this album appeared, although he was still gamely trying to push the river.
Cassidy
and songwriter-producer
Michael Lloyd
certainly pulled out all the stops -- no less than 13 different musicians are credited.
and
Lloyd
appear among the seven keyboardists, while four different people handle the guitar honors. The problem isn't the production; it's a slick, yet solid exhibit of "late-'70s L.A. sound" that peers like
John Stewart
Andrew Gold
rode to gold and platinum success. There's
pop
-tinged
disco
(
"Are You Afraid of Me?,"
"Time for a Change"
), synth-driven balladry (
"You Still Surprise Me"
), and a nod to
rock & roll
roots with a slinky remake of
"The Letter,"
given a funkier, conga-accented treatment than the original. The real issue is a lack of distinctive material for
to call his own. He and
wrote or co-wrote all but one song --
"The Letter"
-- so they definitely have to shoulder the blame.
might have had better luck if he'd stuck to his stripped-down guns on
"Fallin' Into You"
or
"Break for the Street,"
whose crisp delivery and guitar work make them the best moments here. But that's only because of the iffy company that surrounds them, although
"You're Usin' Me"
benefits from a gritty vocal presumably inspired by hardbitten experience (as half-brother
David
could attest).
also brings the album to a strong closing note and awaits the definitive
soft rock
reading. Almost anyone in
's position could have made this sort of album, which suffers from a nagging seen-it-all-done-it-all syndrome -- which he acknowledged on the
new wave
gestures of his next album,
Wasp
. ~ Ralph Heibutzki