4 keepers
keeper avg .444
The three nearly flawless preceding albums are tough acts to follow, though the opening title song**** ups the ante on "Surrender," Cheap Trick's other immortal power pop masterpiece, with a ridiculously ambitious bridge that somehow doesn't crash and burn. Uber-catchy "Way Of The World'**** has similar orchestral touches, though Bun E Carlos's propulsive drive makes it powerful as well as dreamy. ELO's influence is strong here, as well as on the don't-bore-us get-to-the-chorus" "Voices," a catchy-enough jingle of a song whose syrup-y production always made me think that one ELO is enough. In contrast, "The House Is Rockin' (With Domestic Problems)"****, "I'll Be with You Tonight"****, and "Writing on the Wall" are no-frills rockers that would have fit just fine on their previous albums, though songsmith Rick Nielsen is skilled enough to throw in some melodic curve balls to keep the songs far above basic Kiss and Foreigner-level cock rock.(side note: Rick Neilsen has to have deliberately quoted "Please Please Me" in his ending solo of House Is Rockin, as well as Yardbirds I've read).
Being recorded in '78 there had to be some disco, so doing it with some bad-ass attitude on "Gonna Raise Hell" (which ends side 1) is admirable, though the song's monotony and excessive length (over 9-minutes) are tiring. Side 2 also ends flatly, with the draggy and weakly sung (by bassist Tom Peterson) "I Know What I Want" and "Need Your Love." The latter's extended closing rave-up may make sense as a live performance but on album isn't original enough to warrant its generous length, much less 20 bars of triplet finger exercises.
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