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(by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide)

"Excitable Boy earned Warren Zevon a hit single ("Werewolves of London") and the mainstream success he richly deserved, but his new fame came with a price; the hard-living Zevon did not react well to the temptations that come with rock stardom, and in the wake of Excitable Boy he had developed a severe drinking problem. Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School was cut as Zevon was working hard to stay clean and sober and put his career back on track, and it projects an ambition and strength of focus that was decidedly absent from Excitable Boy. The album's rockers hit harder and cut deeper than any of his previous work, especially the twisted Southern gothic of "Play It All Night Long" and the mercenary's anthem "Jungle Work," while "Bed of Coals" and "Wild Age" found Zevon bravely addressing his own failings and expressing his need for a greater maturity in his life. While the album was still short on subtlety compared to 1976's Warren Zevon, "Empty Handed Heart" proved Zevon could still write a straightforward song about love (not a happy one, but no one expected that from him anyway), and the two interludes for orchestra gave credence to Zevon's claims that he planned to write a symphony some day (and that it might even be worth hearing). And if "Gorilla You're a Desperado" was a throwaway, it was a better waste of time than "Midnight at the Switching Yard" on Excitable Boy. While Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School didn't quite return Zevon to the top of his game, it made clear that the quality of Warren Zevon was no fluke, and is a stronger effort than Excitable Boy in nearly every respect."

(Mark Deming, All Music Guide)

If Jackson Browne had convincingly lowered the bar set by his first three albums on his fourth and fifth ones, his sixth, Hold Out, found him once again seeking some measure of satisfaction, albeit in reduced circumstances. His songs were less philosophical, but they were also more personal. In "Of Missing Persons," he once again took on a eulogy as his subject, but unlike "Song to Adam" or "For a Dancer," there the song was directed to his late friend's daughter and encouraged her recovery: it was more a song for the living than for the dead. Newly aware of the world around him ("Boulevard"), he was also newly sensitive to others, notably on the mutual dependency song "Call It A Loan." But the personal tone sometimes made him less sure-footed as a performer; "Hold On Hold Out," the traditional big, long, last song on the album, was awkwardly, not winningly intimate, just as the attention-grabbing lead-off track, "Disco Apocalypse," was merely foolish instead of whatever it may have been intended to be (satire? drama?). If Browne was still trying to write himself out of the cul-de-sac he had created for himself early on, Hold Out represented an earnest attempt that nevertheless fell short.

(by William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide)

"At the time of its release, Two Bit Monsters was perceived by critics who had caught up with John Hiatt on Slug Line as a less impressive follow-up to that record. In retrospect, it may be the better of the two albums, boasting an even more simplified musical approach and such notable songs (and future Rosanne Cash covers) as "Pink Bedroom" and "It Hasn't Happened Yet." Hiatt here was starting to emerge from the "new Elvis Costello" tag that had been affixed to him with Slug Line, but his reviewers, however well-meaning, seemed determined to keep him in that category. (In any case, record buyers were paying little attention -- Slug Line was Hiatt's fourth straight album to miss the charts, and MCA dropped him as Epic had before.)"

(William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide)

Following a short layoff, John Martyn returned with his 12th record (including two with wife Beverley and a best-of collection), Grace & Danger. The album, which finds Martyn fronting a tight quartet featuring Phil Collins on drums and backing vocals, paints a stark, painful portrait of Martyn and Beverley's crumbling marriage. Close friend and Island Records president Chris Blackwell reportedly found the songs so personal and unsettling that he delayed its release for a year. Martyn sets a somber feel right from the start with the seductive opener "Some People Are Crazy" and carries it, for the most part, throughout the record. The hushed, tormented blues of "Hurt In Your Heart," the beautiful "Sweet Little Mystery," and the heartbreaking closer "Our Love" are a few of the highlights. With some of his clearest, strongest singing in years and a collection of terse, honest originals, as well as a cover of the Slickers' reggae classic "Johnny Too Bad," Grace & Danger shows John Martyn at the top of his game.

(by Brett Hartenbach, All Music Guide)

If Seconds of Pleasure, the only album issued under the Rockpile name, doesn't quite capture the intensity of the band's ferocious live performances, attribute that to the confines of a studio setting, plus the fact that most of the band's set list derived from Nick Lowe's Labour of Lust and Dave Edmunds' Repeat When Necessary (both of which featured Rockpile as backing band). So, much of their great songs had already been cut elsewhere, leaving Seconds to be split equally between covers and originals. Since Edmunds was never a songwriter, this gave Lowe the upper hand, not only because Dave sings Nick's "Fool Too Long," but because he's in tremendous form. He unearths the Gene Chandler "Teacher Teacher," gives the irrepressible Billy Bremner the joyous "Heart," offers the jangling Buddy Holly-esque "Now and Always" where the sweetness masks the suicidal undertones, sleazes it up with "Pet and Hold You," and then delves into tongue-in-cheek autobiography with "When I Write a Book," one of his very finest and funniest songs. And Dave's covers are barroom ravers of the highest order, whether it's Joe Tex's "If Sugar Was as Sweet as You" or Difford & Tilbrook's "Wrong Again (Let's Face It)." Yes, the production has the gloss of new wave, which actually provides some freshness. Not that they needed it. Although Rockpile is a band of unabashed rock revivalists, they make it sound fresh -- they have so much joy, it's hard not to get wrapped up in the momentum. Maybe not a flat-out classic, but rock & roll rarely gets as flat-out fun as this. [The CD reissue is even better, since it contains the bonus 7" of four Everly covers, sung by Nick and Dave, alone with acoustics, at a radio station.] (Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide)

Perhaps it was the presence of bassist Charlie Haden, but this trio set has more energy than one normally associates with the other members of the group (Jan Garbarek on tenor and soprano and Egberto Gismonti doubling on guitar and piano). The trio performs group originals and an obscurity during the picturesque and continually interesting release; this combination works well.

(by Scott Yanow, AMG)