Over the years, rock & roll has had its share of one-album wonders-artists who only recorded one album when it seemed like they should have built a large catalogue. Axis turned out be one of those one-album wonders, which came as a surprise because the late 1970s power trio had potential. Consisting of
Vinny Appice (
Carmine Appice's brother) on drums and background vocals,
Jay Davis on bass and lead vocals and
Danny Johnson on guitar and lead vocals, Axis boasted talented musicians even though its material fell short of mind-blowing.
It's A Circus World isn't a gem, but it's a decent collection of commercial arena rock. Catchy, if unremarkable, tunes like "Ray's Electric Farm" and "Cats in the Alley" gave one reason to believe that Axis might be around for awhile-the listener figured that even though this 1978 LP is imperfect, Axis could easily develop into a major force in arena rock on subsequent albums. But there were no subsequent albums for Axis, whose first album was also its last. ~ Alex Henderson