Russ Ballard
's first solo album is, surprisingly, a bit rootsier than one would've expected coming from an ex-
Argent
member, trying for a good, pounding beat on most of its length, interspersed with some anthemic-style numbers. There aren't too many interesting or diverting hooks on this album's worth of originals, and at his best
Ballard
is a decent if unexceptional
hard rock
singer here. The record as a whole is as much a somewhat bland extension of
's mid-'60s work with
the Roulettes
, as it is a distillation of the core
sound, with the strongest songs being the material on the original LP's side one. ~ Bruce Eder