Maybe it's just the somewhat overpowered production -- including the electric drums -- but this album ended up being a disappointment. The tunes and the songs are good enough, and
Schmit is in superb voice, and you have to love the luminous guitar sound in evidence throughout. But it's all a little reminiscent of what happened to
the Eagles once they became a top arena act -- all of a sudden, their sound started to get bigger and heavier than their music could carry comfortably. It might have been a good idea to treat the opener, "Boys Night Out," that way, and "Into the Night" seems to lend itself to that treatment, but it would have been nice to hear "Hold Me in Your Heart" and especially "Everybody Needs a Lover" -- which has an achingly beautiful melody at its core and great hooks, and could have been an
Eagles song and an
Eagles hit, too -- done with a little less wattage. One suspects both "Hold Me in Your Heart" and "Everybody Needs a Lover" would work better that way. On the plus side,
Schmit is a fine, expressive singer throughout, and at the core of the album there is some superb playing, but something a little less heavily "produced" might have showcased all of these elements better. ~ Bruce Eder