Elliot Easton
Change No Change

The sound of his band has become synthetic. Success has literally exploded all over the world, but real guitarists are like that, they would (almost) never trade gold for their beloved six-string, maybe old, maybe battered, maybe bought for pennies at a sale...

In 1985, Elliot Easton, a left-handed New Yorker guitarist highly appreciated for his great sensitivity in "seasoning" songs with his skillful touches, rather than for the endless solos (which his band prohibits him from) typical of a guitar hero, releases this album of traditional yet diverse rock, co-written with the great pop-rock composer Jules Shear (also the author of about twenty albums in his name; does anyone know who I'm talking about?) and sung entirely with his own hoarse and somewhat toneless voice, unpleasant to rock purists but perfect for someone with such a neighborhood tough guy look like him, and therefore even more personal than a voice that is simply beautiful.

It starts with "Tools Of Your Labor", practically in Nazareth style with the vocalist an octave lower. "(Wearing Down) Like A Wheel" seems to come from the "Panorama" album by the Cars, guitars and keyboards beating for little melody. Then it "traditionalizes" itself to become subdued in the choruses. In "Shayla" we catapult into the American sixties. The Cars have always loved that kind of sound, and Easton is ultimately nothing more than an exceptionally skilled rockabilly and surf guitarist lent to new wave and pop-rock. Suffice to say, he is Brian Wilson's favorite, to give you an idea. In this track, it seems that Bay City Rollers-style choruses might start at any moment. Another lesson in arpeggios in "Help Me", following the path of the previous one. Melody in its pure state. Needless to say, how impressive it is to hear this tough guy with a tough guy voice singing a song of this kind, usually interpreted by a eunuch capable of falsettos at the edge of ultrasonic.

The Californian sixties are everywhere, and now it's the turn of the Shangri-Las of "Leader Of The Pack" in this "(She Made It) New For Me". Beautiful solo and danceable rhythm. Everything's great, all of it! It moves to guitar funk, a genre the reviewer has a certain fondness for, in "I Want You". The result, subtracting tons of keyboards, is a white funky that could be attributed to Duran Duran (that low and slow "I - want - you" under the chorus is reminiscent of the "All - she - wants - is" of the famous '88 single), but the comparison between the two singers is clearly won by Simonetta La Bonazza. "The Hard Way" is a blues-rock in Muddy Waters style in the verses with slide guitars and country drums in the chorus and special. At about 2 minutes and 45 there is an arpeggio accompanying the chorus that seems surgically transplanted, by similarity of notes and sounds, from the body of "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds".

With "Fight My Way To Love" the vocal harmonies of the Rubettes meet the new wave of Ric Ocasek, those playful keyboards and his pre-chorus crescendo. The Nazareth of "Black Betty" reappears in "Change". In the sound of the verses, Guns n' Roses lovers will find something similar to the final part (of course, slowed down) of the ill-fated "Coma"!!! The final "Wide Awake" then, is a sweet ballad to the point that it seems written by Alan Parsons, so imagine if I wouldn't recommend this romantic, classic, beach album to you...

Nothing innovative, but everything is written so well (50% by the great Jules Shear, but especially the remaining 50% by someone who in the Cars had never composed a single note in his life) that there will be no room for indulging in the neurotic practice of skipping tracks.

He should have taken some singing lessons, of course, but for quality of the songs and "touch" this tough guy with a shaggy bob can only give them, the lessons.