Search - Lindisfarne :: Roll on Ruby

Pretty good, but more in a MOR direction.

G. Putman | Las Vegas, NV United States | 07/31/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is the first album from what is commonly known as the Lindisfarne Mk. II line-up. After Ray Laidlaw, Rod Clements, and Simon Crowe left to form the excellent band Jack The Lad, Alan Hull and Ray Jackson soldiered on with this new line-up. The new band sounds good: the playing is inspired, the songwriting contributions from the new members are certainly adequate, and the harmony singing is right on. "Taking Care Of Business", "North Country Boy", and "Toe The Line" come close to capturing the old sound and spirit, and "When The War Is Over" could be one of Alan Hull's best songs. So, why only 3 stars? Well, it's because the band seems to be going in a slightly more polished MOR direction on some songs here. First off...Roy Thomas Baker (Queen, The Cars, Cheap Trick, and literally dozens of other huge bands) produced the album, so for those of you that are hip to his work, this should tell you something. Another thing is that there are too many string and horn arrangements here. A couple of songs could also pass for Steely Dan songs (not that I have anything against Steely Dan, but I generally don't put a Lindisfarne album on to hear this sort of thing). So, I think that this one is probably for those of you that already have all the earlier stuff and have to have more (like me), or for fans who like the later era, more pop-oriented Lindisfarne."