As promising as
Frank Gambale's work with
Chick Corea's Elektric Band was, his first sessions on his own weren't remarkable -- generally decent, but not remarkable. While
Thunder from Down Under isn't in a class with
Gambale's accomplishments under
Corea's leadership, the jazz-rock-pop date has its strong points -- which range from "Samba de Somewhere" (a confident piece featuring
Corea on electric keyboards) to the insistent "Humid Beings" to the pensive "Mamojambo." The Brazilian-influenced numbers "Obrigado Fukuoka" and "The Land of Nowhere" are pleasant enough, but never really take off. Quite often,
Gambale fails to go that extra mile as he did with
the Elektric Band. Switching from fusion guitarist to pop/rock singer on such forgettable material as "Obsessed with Life" and "Faster than an Arrow,"
Gambale sounds like a poor man's
Sting.