The Motels' third album,
All Four One, finds the group working the fine line between mainstream arena rock and quirky new wave pop. Their roots lie in the sleek, polished Californian hard rock that dominated late-'70s and early-'80s album-oriented radio, but
All Four One has a shiny new wave production, complete with keyboards and processed guitars. Still, it plays like arena rock, especially since
Martha Davis oversings each track, but its best moments -- "Take the L" (out of lover and it's over) and the single "Only the Lonely" -- are embarrassingly catchy guilty pleasures that make the album an entertaining nostalgia piece. [One Way's 1996 CD reissue added the Motels' two other big singles, "Suddenly Last Summer" and "Shame," as bonus tracks. The label issued the album again in 1999. The latter version removed "Suddenly" and "Shame," but included instead four previously unreleased remixes and live material.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine