Producer
Emitt Rhodes gives Bim a tasteful L.A. studio production on
Thistles, calling on session aces like drummer Jeff Porcaro and pianist
David Foster. It sounds like they were trying to turn this singer-songwriter into something akin to smooth blues-rocker
Boz Scaggs a la
Silk Degrees. But he's a bit too idiosyncratic for that, his songs going in unexpected directions despite the predictable craft of the backing, and especially in his nasal high tenor voice, which is of the "you love it or you hate it" variety. If you love it, it gives his sensitive lyrics an appealing blues feeling and makes up for the bland production. ~ William Ruhlmann