his self-titled 1977 debut<\/a> and his 1986 comeback album Can\u2019t Hold Back<\/i>. The latter was actually the man\u2019s second comeback, though, with the first being this album, which followed the disappointing Life For The Taking<\/i> (1978) and Playing For Keeps<\/i> (1980).<\/p>\nMoney\u2019s musical foil and guitarist Jimmy Lyon is a big presence, with his tasteful, muscular leads evident throughout. The strong supporting cast includes Alan Pasqua (keys, later with Bob Dylan), Randy Nichols (keys), Ralph Carter (bass), Marty Walsh (guitar, later with Supertramp) and Gary Mallaber (drums, ex-Steve Miller). <\/p>\n
The album roars out of the gate with \u201cShakin\u2019,\u201d whose urgency and strong dynamics play to Money\u2019s strengths while sketching a charismatic love interest; add in that \u201cwhoa-oh oh-whoa\u201d earworm chorus hook and you\u2019ve got a sure-fire hit (#63 Hot 100; #9 Mainstream Rock). The other big single here, the propulsive \u201cI Think I\u2019m In Love\u201d (#16 Hot 100; #1 Top Tracks), slots in at track three, distilling the exuberance and optimism of new love into words and music.<\/p>\n
As was often the case in this era, the rest of the album doesn\u2019t quite reach the level of its two hit singles, but there\u2019s still plenty to enjoy. <\/p>\n
The rumbly, careening title track is a bracingly honest self-examination by notorious party-boy Money, whose well-chronicled habits nearly derailed his career in the \u201980s. What\u2019s even more startling is that \u201cNo Control\u201d appears on the same album as the Motown-flavored \u201cPassing By The Graveyard (Song for John B.),\u201d a posthumous tribute to Money\u2019s friend John Belushi.<\/p>\n
Money was versatile enough to handle anything from straight-up guitar pop like the earnest \u201cRunnin\u2019 Away\u201d to heavier rockers like the stutter-stepping, emphatic \u201cKeep My Motor Runnin\u2019.\u201d \u00a0And while neither won him any songwriting awards, they\u2019re serviceable tunes that Money elevates with commitment and charisma. There\u2019s also a sincere, appealing vulnerability to more personal songs like the mid-tempo \u201cHard Life\u201d and acoustic ballad \u201cMy Friends, My Friends.\u201d <\/p>\n
Not everything here works; \u201cTake A Little Bit\u201d features dry eighties synths over a robotic beat, and heavy rocker \u201cDrivin\u2019 Me Crazy\u201d derails every time it hits its car-crash chorus. Closer \u201cIt Could Happen To You\u201d takes another shot at yearning, but the lyric feels like a string of cliches and only Nichols\u2019 organ and Ed Calle\u2019s sax leave a lasting impression.<\/p>\n
Money co-wrote most of these tunes with members of his band, with bassist Carter his most frequent collaborator, and the album\u2019s warm, vibrant sound came courtesy of superstar producer Tom Dowd (Bee Gees, Allman Brothers, Derek & The Dominos, Lynyrd Skynyrd, etc., etc.).<\/p>\n
It would be a stretch to call No Control<\/i> essential, but it\u2019s a solid and often appealing album from a solid and often appealing performer\u2014and its pair-of-aces singles are two of the best tracks Eddie Money and band ever laid down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":35236,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7437],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-47120","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-eddie-money","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/47120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/47120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=47120"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=47120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}