With guitarist
Domenic Troiano
out of the picture, the post-
Joe Walsh
James Gang
was able to take their career off life support temporarily by adding guitarist
Tommy Bolin
beginning with this 1973 release. Having just dissolved his short-lived fusion band
Energy
,
Bolin
's creative playing injects a little
Miles
and
Mahavishnu
into the usually rocking
Gang
, most noticeably on
"From Another Time."
Staccato guitar lines and congas begin the song, an old-style
boogie fills the middle, and then a sound effect explosion abruptly brings it all to a jarring, nonsensical close. It's all of the album's problems in a nutshell since the knotty and the normal are at odds throughout, although there are many moments to remember. Even if
's wistful
"Alexis"
doesn't fit with the other tracks it's a highlight, as is the opening rocker
"Standing in the Rain"
where conmen ("Your note said you went to Charleston/But I know you went to New Mexico) and cretins ("You left behind a dead father/A sick mother and 4 younger kids") are forced to face up to love.
Bang
feels less like a band album and more like talented studio musicians on the loose, but die-hard fans of either
the Gang
or the late
will enjoy it, if only in fits and starts. ~ David Jeffries