Benjamin Orr - The Lace [File Under: The Cars]

Benjamin Orr - The Lace - 1986

Do you like "Drive"? Oh, good. Then you would like 60% of this album. Wait, what? You say you don't need to hear mid-tempo, synth driven, electric drum driven 2nd rate Cars songs?
Oh. Then skip it.

It's not that The Lace is BAD. It's that it's inconsequential. It aims for the middle. Except for the opening track, "Too Hot to Stop" and the burning "That's the Way" there's no there there. There's some promise on the title track, but, in the end, it's much ado about the same old same old. Definitely superior to anything Ocasek had put out on his own, not as much fun as some of Easton's effort, but definitely in the wheelhouse of mid-80s Cars. I do have a warm feeling for "This Time Around", the album's closer. It's pretty honest about what it is. Sort of "Drive" part 2 but with more of an eye on being on the soundtrack to some 80s rom-com like "About Last Night".

I always like Orr. He was my favorite Car. He was the best looking, the most androgynous and he sang lead on so many of their hits. His was a solid 80s voice, he wasn't the creepy club crawler that Ocasek's voice was. He could have probably sang anything. Especially of that era.
I wish his only solo record was better.

Grade: C+
ASide: Too Hot to Stop
BlindSide: The Lace, That's the Way, This Time Around.
DownSide: There's nothing unlistenable here.