Lenore Elaine propels her recorded performance with an energetic acoustic guitar -- it supplements a clear and professional voice carrying the songs with emotion and world-weary authority. "Here Comes Trouble" might be the catchiest song on this collection, the smart guitar riff and Lenore's vocal overpowering the band. The sidemen take a back seat to this commentary on the dating game -- "He's a familiar stranger/and he's just waltzing into my life/I'm sure we've met already..." -- till that voice in her head tells her "no, no, no." Great "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" stuff and a potential hit. Reminds one of the Simon & Garfunkel's "Sounds of Silence" before Clive Davis worked his magic on it; maybe the producer should remix "Here Comes Trouble" as "Sounds of Silence" was reinvented behind the original track. It really has something special to it and deserves a bit more polish. "I Keep Changing" utilizes the immortal "Sweet Jane" riff to good effect, while "Rock & Roll" seems to be some subliminal message to dethroning Dylan. The band sounds restrained behind the singer, her voice out front where it belongs, and her enthusiasm very impressive. The rock/folk progresses into blues as the album builds, "I Don't Want You to Die" has the singer using basic riffs to her advantage, a soapbox for Lenore's on-target lyrics and an amazing grasp of putting her personality across a recorded medium. This is Lenore's biggest strength -- she is acting out her own script in a play separated into 13 acts. "A Day at a Time" is like Maria Muldaur seducing you with her opinion. The artist is serious, but you can feel a tongue-in-cheek humor filtering through the subtlety. She is musically quite cunning, employing Bill Evans Hammond organ to give body to the breathy vocal on "Just One More." "Love in the Morning" carries a taste of world music while "Doin' It" is like a sequel to the first track, "Here Comes Trouble," if the protagonist ended up marrying the one-night stand. The album has more than its share of male bashing which might be read as bitterness inspiring song. Or revenge. It culminates in "Brave Goodbye" -- "there's no use in fighting fate anyhow" -- optimism in the midst of finality. Lenore has a lot on her mind, and she shares it well on this excellent set.
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