Joe Walsh
Got Any Gum?

THE REVIEW

In 1987, Joe Walsh’s eighth solo album was released, proving to be yet another enjoyable, fun, and incisive collection of songs of various natures and atmospheres.

The more or less melodic, more or less gritty rockers this time open with the nostalgic “The Radio Song”, continue with the bipolar “Fun”, alternating between angry, riff-driven verses and ultra-melodic choruses. The rolling, danceable “In My Car” paves the way for the dragged-out, atmospheric blues rock of “Malibu”, after which “Half of Our Time” offers the ritual guitar showcase performed with the Talk Box. The powerful “Up to Me”, with big guitars in harmony, then soloing, then in counterpoint, is instrumentally the album’s highlight.

The pacifist “No Peace in the Jungle” is an excellent episode of dark, shadowy blues, with an obsessive bassline and a delightful, continuous shift between the major key and the very same in minor: a great example of good songwriting… Furthermore, it should be noted that Joe’s lyrics are almost never banal, even when they deal with simple and predictable problems everyone faces. He always does it with a few effective, poignant strokes; in any case, for those not interested in lyrics, Walsh’s lead guitar is more than enough — lyrical and sharp as ever.

One example above all regarding the lyrics: in “The Radio Song”, listening to your favorite tunes through the radio is celebrated, when all is silent in the house and thus the sound, and the silences between notes, let the mind travel. Today, you get the same effect by isolating yourself with Bluetooth headphones, but the message remains the same: music should be listened to attentively, without other noises polluting it, and without doing anything else (at most, driving, and alone). That’s the right way to nurture a passion for music.

There is only one piano ballad, and it’s a very lyrical one. It’s called “Memory Lane” and captures Walsh’s nostalgic longing for ancient city streets now far away, in a most heartfelt manner. It would have fit well on an Eagles album — which, by the way, were still on sabbatical at the time. The final track, “Time”, on the other hand, could have been left out: pop rock with funky touches a’la Fleetwood Mac, but it’s the only weak link among the ten.

Walsh has never made a bad album; this is yet another four-star effort.