Crucial to the creation of this album was
Daltrey's meeting with guitarist/songwriter
Gerard McMahon, since
Rocks In The Head, which credits "Musical Direction and Production" to
McMahon, also features him as primary backup musician and writer or co-writer of ten out of the 11 tracks.
Daltrey himself is co-credited on seven, a new high for him, but it's hard not to feel that he is acting primarily as
McMahon's mouthpiece.
McMahon updates
Daltrey for the '90s, constructing hard-edged tracks based on harsh electric or acoustic guitar textures, suggesting everyone from
The Who to
The Police. The result is an album that does nothing to diminish
Daltrey's reputation. ~ William Ruhlmann