Emotions in Motion, the excellent follow-up to
Billy Squier's sophomore outing
Don't Say No, saw
Squier rise from theater headliner to bona fide arena rock sensation by delivering his most consistent solo record to date. Or at least one just as good as its predecessor. On this slice of AOR heaven,
Squier expands on the
Led Zeppelin-influenced exploits of
Don't Say No. Right off the bat,
Squier delivers an immediate blow to the head on the album's opening triumvirate "Everybody Wants You," "Emotions in Motion" (a distant cousin of
Queen's "Get Down Make Love" no doubt), and the moody "Learn How to Live." Backed by longtime cronies -- drummer
Bobby Chouinard, guitarist
Jeff Golub, and keyboard player Allan St. John --
Squier effortlessly leads his ace band through the boogie-woogie of future concert staple "Keep Me Satisfied."
Squier also takes a few chances by veering into
Rolling Stones territory on the horn-laced "Catch 22." Borrowing heavily from "Tumbling Dice," "Catch 22" foreshadows a style that would become more prevalent on future records like
Enough Is Enough and
Creatures of Habit.
Emotions in Motion saw
Squier establish himself as a major rock star, embarking on a tour as
Queen's support act on their U.S. Hot Space tour. As
Queen's popularity in America began to wane,
Squier would steal their thunder resulting in a huge headline tour of his own shortly thereafter. Unfortunately, for the Boston rocker, 1984's follow-up
Signs of Life would yield the career-suicidal video for "Rock Me Tonite (which features
Squier rolling around pink satin sheets) eclipsing the many merits of his earlier works. Interesting side note is the album's cover art. It was commissioned by legendary artist Andy Warhol. ~ John Franck