Billy Squier
knows his music is all right. He knows because he's got razor sharp hooks, air-tight choruses, and the
"Big Beat."
Though his former band,
Piper
, wasn't the next
Kiss
(both were managed by
Bill Aucoin
),
Squier
plays with the big boys right out of the gate on his first solo:
Tale of the Tape
deftly welds heavy licks to hard
funk
on a level with world-dominators
Queen
. Both beatboxes and muscle cars blasted
"You Should Be High, Love"
and
But the artist's gentle melodic touch always surprises. Underneath the suburban-
Zep
-sludge pops
Raspberries
bubblegum
.
doesn't fake sympathy for the working class; he wants to be rich and he wants young girls. On
and its near-perfect follow-up,
Don't Say No
, he knows what he wants and he knows how to get it. [The U.K. edition on
Rock Candy
adds bonus tracks.] ~ Doug Stone