Rating: ** (2 stars)
Title: Neon
Company: Paramount
Catalog: PAS-5024
Year: 1971
Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+
Comments: gatefold sleeve
Available: 1
Price: $20.00
Don't know much about this early-'70s quarter (guitarist Peter Brannigan, keyboard player Francis Crabtree, drummer Russell Leslie and bassist Fung Porter). Their prime claim to fame seems to rest with the fact their 1970 debut album was produced by Tommy James and Bob King (the pair also handled musical arrangements and contributed one song to the set). In spite of the dumbs*it cover,
"Neon" is actually a surprisingly good heavy rock album. With Crabtree penning the majority of the material, the set offered up a nice blend of guitar rock ("Mountain Baby" - ignore the ponderous drum solo) and more commercial moves (check out the Tommy James and the Shondells-styled harmonies on "Hold Back My Tears"). Personal favorites were the band's cover of James' "Dark Is the Night" (always liked that '60s sitar sound), the rocker "Can't Stop Myself (From Loving You)" and the mildly psychedelic "Magic Man". Listening to the album a couple more times, the set sounds like something The Shondells might have done had the ever elected to go for a tighter, AOR audience - that's meant as a compliment. A pleasant surprise and a bargain at the asking price ... (The album was originally released with a gatefold sleeve.)
"Neon" track listing:
1.) Mountain Baby (Francis Crabtree) - 6:26
2.) Hold Back My Tears (Francis Crabtree) - 3:24
3.) Dark Is the Night (Tommy James - Bob King) - 3:26
4.) Can't Stop Myself (From Loving You) (Francis Crabtree) - 6:20
5.) Magic Man (Francis Crabtree) - 7:31
6.) Nobody Nowhere (Peter Brannigan - Francis Crabtree - Russell Leslie - Fung Porter) - 7:30
7.) Funny Kind of Feeling (Francis Crabtree) - 5:12
The quartet appears to have survived long enough to release a follow-on single "Movin' On" b/w "Darling Before I Go" (Paramount catalog number 0121) before calling it quits in 1971.