KID'S STUFF

"Kid´s Stuff" is the 5th full-length studio album by UK rock/hard rock act Babe Ruth. The album was released through Capitol Records in the US and through EMI Records in the UK in 1976. A major change to the lineup occured before the recording of the album, as lead vocalist Jenny Haan left the band to be replaced by Ellie Hope. As a consequence of that there is not a single remaining member left on "Kid´s Stuff" from the lineup who recorded the debut album "First Base (1972)".

Regardless of the lineup change on the lead vocalist spot, the music actually still sounds like Babe Ruth even though a few funky elements have found their way into the band´s sound. The compositions are generally not very strong though and I´d only mention the rocking "Oh Dear, What a Shame", the pretty good "Welcome To the Show", the short instrumental synth track "Nickelodeon" which is the only track with ties to progressive rock on the album, the hard rocking "Keep Your Distance" and the power ballad "Living A Lie" as decent tracks on the album. The rest are either pretty bad or not worth mentioning at all. The comparisions to Wishbone Ash and Led Zeppelin still hold true, but think of the weakest material released by those artists and then this is still a bit weaker.

New vocalist Ellie Hope has a raw rock mama voice and does a decent job on the album, but she struggles to reach the heights of the fantastic Jenny Haan. The production is well sounding and suits the music. A warm, organic, and pleasant sounding seventies production. "Kid´s Stuff" isn´t a catastrophy to my ears but it´s not really a good album either. A 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted. Do yourself a favour and check out any of the band´s previous four albums before listening to this one. It would be wrong to form an opinion about Babe Ruth on the grounds of the material on this album.