DANGER MONEY

With the departure of Allan Holdworth and Bill Bruford, UK was left with bass/frontman John Wetton and Keyboard/Violinist Eddie Jobson. The two remaining players had some very huge shoes to fill. Apparently they were so big that they only filled one set with drummer Terry Bozzio. No huge loss in quality there as Bozzio was already making absurdly difficult music with Zappa. But would it be enough for UK's second release, Danger Money, to maintain the bar that was set so high with the debut release? Considering the only thing that prevented the debut album from being a 5 star masterpiece was the unapologetically pop texture of Jobson's keyboard sounds, it appeared the battle would be up hill in both directions.

The outset of the album was promising, with Jobson bringing a huge cathedral organ sound to the legato intro of the title track. It appeared possible he was leaving bubble gummy sounds behind. Indeed, much of the A-side of the album included a high B3 content. But it wouldn't last. Eventually he would bring an overly effected electric piano sound to the table. Not the cool gain driven semi-distorted Rhodes sound of the early to mid 70's. It was the sound of thin ties and hair gel. The sound of the '80's. Being an early adopter isn't always a good thing.

But the albums failings weren't all Jobson's fault. This was an album that was thematically challenged, with songs like "Ceasers Palace Blues" and the hitman themed title track, that lyrically seemed obtuse and superficial compared to the likes of "Thirty Years" and "Mental Medication". Even the song highlight of the album, "Carrying no Cross" contained a passage toward the end, "...bad boys can come clean". Maybe so, but bad lyrics stick in your ear like the Ceti Eel Khan put in Chekov's ear. Additionally, except for "Carrying no Cross", the album was rhythmically pretty boring. The worst offender was "Nothing to Lose". It served to even further the poppy texture of the album.

When all is said and done, Danger Money is an album with one great song, 2 okay songs, 2 bad songs, and 1 hideous stinker. I honestly made a conscious decision to not listen to this album many years ago. But with the death of John Wetton I was revisiting all of the albums he performed on in my collection with a renewed focus. Sadly, even had Wetton's parts been perfection, which they were not, this album was not enjoyable enough to warrant more than 2 stars. And the vast majority of that second star is due to "Carrying no Cross."