THE BIG LAD IN THE WINDMILL

BLITW almost gets there. As a debut album it stands up thanks to the musical literacy of It Bites. At the time, Francis Dunnery (guitar) was just 23, but listerning to his playing you could be forgiven for thinking he'd been around for decades and was a very experienced player. You can hear IB's prog rock influences coming through on 'I got you eating outa my hand' 'Screaming on the beaches' and 'You'll never go to heaven' But, to be honest much of the album reeks of hairspray and pop/rock 'Wanna shout' 'Turn me loose' and the dreadful 'Whole new world'. The band clearly had prog ambitions, but maybe had to placate the money men at Virgin for this first album. There second album, 'Once around the world' was fantastic, and shall be reviewed by yours truly in the near future, no doubt.

Your collection will not really miss BLITW, but there are some great moments which indicated where IB's true intentions lay. It's well worth getting for those moments. Alternatively buy an IB compilation. Musicianship, excellent, production, good if a bit poppy, but consistent? No.