The Knack fell short on their sophomore debut "But The Little Girls
Understand." It was an attempt to duplicate their huge debut album.
There are some catchy numbers, but this album doesn't hold your attention
for long and becomes a boring rehash of the past. The quick and tight
guitar radio ready riffs are in place, however the energy and sound
is another matter. They don't sound as hungry and raw on this album.
Its like a championship sports team that wins it all the hard way
as the underdog then comes back the next year with nothing to motivate
them, they already beat all the odds. I think The Knack suffered from
this mindset on their second release, and perhaps a bit of over production.
By the ninth track I had enough and skipped over to the bonus tracks.
The sound is great, but the content doesn't match the new sparkling sound quality.
The bonus tracks are a lot of fun. Ray Manzarek of Doors fame joins
the group onstage for some rollicking rock 'n' roll party fun on "Soul
Kitchen" and "Alabama Song/Whiskey Bar." The crowd present for the
performance is having the time of their lives, and that atmosphere
is captured nicely. The sound is sub-par sadly, it sounds as if it
was recorded on someone's hand held cassette recorder. On the rehearsal
track of all things, "Revenge", they sounded more like the energetic
and driven bad boys that I heard on the first album. And the "Daughter
of the Law" is a rarity taken out and dusted off to complete the package.
This one is for the compulsive collector in all of us that must have
every album. It may lack merit compared to their debut, but its still
The Knack, and its only rock and roll. The four bonus tracks make this worth the purchase.
Songs:
1. Baby Talks Dirty
2. I Want Ya
3. Tell Me You're Mine
4. Mr. Handleman
5. Can't Put a Price on Love
6. Hold on Tight and Don't Let Go
7. The Hard Way
8. It's You
9. End of the Game
10. The Feeling I Get
11. Havin' a Rave Up
12. How Can Love Hurt So Much
*Bonus Tracks
13. Soul Kitchen [live*] performed by Knack / Ray Manzarek
14. Whiskey Bar [live*] performed by Knack / Ray Manzarek
15. Revenge (Rehearsal) [*]
16. Daughter of the Law [*]
Credits:
Berton Averre - Guitar
Doug Fieger - Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm)
Bruce Gary - Drums
Prescott Niles - Bass
