Stray Cats - Blast Off! (1989)

In 1988, after respective solo careers not entirely convincing - to say the least - Setzer, Phantom and Rocker reunited and went back to what they do the best : rockabilly. Even the fourth Stray Cat (like George Martin could be the fifth Beatle) Dave Edmunds was back in the producer's seat. Slim Jim Phantom said "It's probably our most rockabilly effort" and he's right. Rockabilly with a modern edge and a 90's sound but the backbone is here. They cover Eddie Bond's "Slip, Slip Slippin' In", and half of the songs borrow to 50's rockabilly tunes. "Gina" is a Buddy Holly influenced song with Phantom adding a floor tom to get the Jerry Allison pattern, "Blast Off" sounds like "Jungle Rock" on speed but has good enough lyrics to be original, "Everybody Needs Rock'n' Roll" bears more than one common point with Glen Glenn's Everybody's Movin and of course "Gene And Eddie", the band's tribute to these two pioneers is very effective if not very original (the song is made of various verses lifted from Vincent and Cochran songs). "Rockabilly Rules, Ok" - the title says it all - and "Rockabilly World" reinforce the rockabilly orientation and you also have a clear attempt to chart with the more commercial "Bring It Back Again" lifted as a potential single (sadly it'll fail to climb very high). The best track is "Nine Lives" a jazzy variation around "Stray Cats Strut", with clever lyrics, outstanding guitar solo and vocal from Setzer. Indeed this album marks a turning point in Setzer's vocal. He seems more confident in his talent as singer and his voice has gone deeper and more mature. This album may suffer the lack of powerful hits (like Stray Cats Strut, Rock This Town or Runaway Boys) and originality (four songs out of ten with the word rock in the title might sound a bit cliché). Nevertheless it's a solid rock album, very well produced and most of all, the listener can feel the fun and the joy to play together.~Amazon

Track listing
01. Blast Off (2:42)
02. Gina (2:48)
03. Everybody Needs Rock 'n' Roll (2:15)
04. Gene And Eddie (3:19)
05. Rockabilly Rules (2:50)
06. Bring It Back Again (3:05)
07. Slip, Slip, Slippin' In (2:44)
08. Rockabilly World (3:01)
09. Rockin' All Over The Place (3:34)
10. Nine Lives (3:56)



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