THE OTHER SIDE OF LIFE

You probably already know that this is a typical product of eighties pop. So the question I should be answering is 'are there any surprises?' Well, yes and no. Okay, that doesn't really answer any questions. 'In your wildest dreams' is a really melodic song. The country-ish 'slings and arrows' and the tender ballad 'I just don't care' are strong, some of the rest of the material is pretty predictable. Kind of reminds you of ZZ Top's Afterburner album, or many other albums from the time, in fact. You get a swathe of uptempo 80's pop songs like 'rock and roll over you' which are kind of enjoyable but shallow, and feel like recreations of other well known hits of the time. Then there are a couple of token progressive numbers, the title track and 'The Spirit', the latter is co-written by Patrick Moraz, his only song-writing credit for the band. These two songs are actually quite good, I especially like the title track. The album is finished with a lifeless ballad, 'it may be a fire', but this album contains plenty of heartfelt emotion, which the band do so well, and some nice melodies. Also, they are great singers and the album is enjoyable, though a few tracks are not that good.