Quarterflash
Take Another Picture

Quarterflash is an American pure '80s pop rock band, similar to Fleetwood Mac or Pat Benatar, for clarity, seeing as they feature a frontwoman, Rindy Ross. The aforementioned musician also provides the group's standout element, not with her voice, which is pleasant but in truth nothing special, but rather by playing both tenor and soprano saxophones, using them in a very melodic and effective way, more specifically by delivering gripping introductory and supportive riffs between the verses.
Famous, for example, and quite popular even here, is the tenor sax phrase that opens "Harden My Heart," their first and biggest hit contained in their self-titled debut album of which "Take Another Picture" is the successor (year 1983). In this work as well, the group's strength can be seen primarily there, in those few, catchy notes of sax, cyclically blown here and there to introduce and spice up very light yet very well-arranged music. After all, a top-tier producer is in action, John Boylan, whose strong musical insights and ability to accommodate and enhance the talent of his clients determined the success of people like Boston, Little River Band, and many others. Moreover, it's the wealthy American multinational Geffen footing the bills for his services and for studio time... Hence, Quarterflash's records sound good, are highly professional, and are well-polished to harm no one and are appreciated and purchased by the old and the young (of that generation).

This was the hyper-melodic rock of the time, with the bass guitar often doubled by synthesizers, the real drums sounding almost fake due to being so precise and effect-laden, the guitars continuously flanged and chorused to the point of making them watery and transparent, and the keyboards bell-like and reverberant. To appreciate it, one must have a taste for pop things and be open to well-made pop songs... the Beatles' songs were too, ultimately.

From my point of view, it's necessary to slalom between songs, skipping over some overly Abba-like tracks or just a little more  (the opener "Take Me Into Heart", the title track, and "Make It Shine") and slowing down, if not lingering, on much better material like the linear and tense "Shane" with its basic yet always effective bass pedal and clean supporting guitars, the vaguely bluesy "It Don't Move Me" elevated by the expressive slide guitar of guest Joe Walsh, one of the world's greatest specialists in the field, or the other poppish rock blues "Shakin' The Jinx" with the two lead guitars of Jack Charles and Marv Ross (Cindy’s husband) even harmonizing together for a bit. But the best number sung by Cindy is the lyrical, tense, sweetly dramatic "Nowhere Left To Hide" placed almost at the end, with a gentle keyboard riff and a somewhat predictable melody that does the pop trick nicely.

In reality, a full three out of the ten scheduled tracks are performed by guitarist Jack Charles, whose desire for the spotlight will cost him dearly, as he will be ousted by the Marv/Cindy duo from the next record onward: Jack decently sings the very basic ballad "Eye To Eye" and a kind of hard rock'n'roll (by the band's standards) called "One More Round To Go," but most notably, he nearly single-handedly composes and performs (with the producer's assistance using a synth mat) the little gem that closes the album, a delightful two-minute affair titled "It All Becomes Clear," made of harmonic and jangling open-tuned guitars and a heartfelt, autobiographical text sung with heart-in-hand sincerity by good old Jack.

This stuff by Quarterflash is dated and can be overlooked, but '80s rock and pop music was always better, on average, than that of the '90s and especially that of the new millennium. You can verify this even by listening to these minor heroes of the time.
P.S. The mannequins on the cover are thirty-three.