After
Michael des Barres' short stint with the band
Phoenix, he formed
Detective along with former
Yes and
Badger keyboardist
Tony Kaye, and they were signed on to the Swan Song label. Although there's no way of avoiding the similarities between
Detective's sound and that of
Led Zeppelin's, their debut album evolved as the freshest of the three albums that they released.
Des Barres vocals are unmistakably
Plant-like, and
Michael Monarch's guitar riffs are somewhat refined, yet at times they buzz and chug just like
Page's, but there's still an ample amount of enjoyable rock & roll left over to make
Detective a worthy album. Tracks like "Recognition," "Got Enough Love," and "Detective Man" sound more like their own work, and while
Kaye doesn't light up the sky with his keyboard work, he does give
Detective an added edge which helps to conceal the arrant comparisons from time to time. On the other hand, songs like "Nightingale," "Deep Down," and "One More Heartache" seem to purposely emphasize the resemblances, but they still come off as entertaining hard rock numbers. 1978's
It Takes One to Know One is a slightly weaker appendage of
Detective, and within the same year, the band released a rather unnecessary live album before they went their separate ways. ~ Mike DeGagne