Reviewed by Paul J Zickler
Released: February 1981 Eve Moon Eve Moon Genre: Rock Rating: 3 out of 5 Highlights: So What Play Rough Rhythm And Booze In working my way through the remainders of 1981, I will sometimes preview the first few seconds of a few of the tracks to get a sense of whether I want to review the album or not. Eve Moon’s self-titled album did not pass muster the first time I evaluated it in early January, but it’s still sitting there unreviewed in mid-February, so what the heck? I’ll give it a spin. I’m not much of a hard rock fan, so the opener, Powerline, mostly leaves me cold. It’s got a big beat and lots of pristinely arranged distortion, so I could see it making some people happy. Trouble Boys, song number two, has a bit more going for it, in particular Eve Moon’s voice, which here reminds me of the great Rickie Lee Jones. On Blind Man’s Bluff, Eve switches back to her rocker voice for a tune that shifts from slow and bluesy to double time weedly-weedly before ending in a blaze of FM rock cliché. It’s OK. The first power ballad is Want You So Bad, a heavy handed belter with some unfortunately overmixed guitar lines obscuring a fairly impressive performance from Moon. It’s very much in the Heart mode, and maybe with better production and arrangement it could have sounded as good as Heart. The song itself is nothing special, but vocally, the talent is there. Side one finishes with the first real highlight: So What. The song leaps out of the gate like an amphetamine-fueled version of 38 Special, firing off some Skynyrd-style multi-guitar riffs at double speed, then slowing down briefly while Eve dares the boy she just met to “step up the power, baby.” It’s a joyride of a song, with the band crashing in around the lascivious lead singer. I had to play it twice. Side two opens square in the middle of Pretenders land. “If you’re gonna play rough / Better be tough / Better take a punch / Better play your hunch.” Moon is no Chrissie Hynde, but it’s not for lack of effort. She’s all in, as is the band, even if their riffs lack the creativity and effortless swing of their better competitors. Still, the bar they’re reaching for is high, and I give them props for trying to get there. The next track is a pretty big drop off: a tribute to New York, called New York, featuring lyrics like “Down in New York / It’s such a crazy city / It’s the town where I was born / If you have a heart / Listen to my song.” I will Eve, but only because I have to in order to review the album. But whoever told you to put that disco break after the chorus should be fired. I’m just sayin’. Power ballad number two is titled Hunger, and it’s pretty bad. “Big men in power / Lying and so weak / Do you think they care / What happens to you and me?” Once again the band and the singer commit fully to the material, but it’s just a dumb song. I appreciate the attempt at relevance with references to “cosmic dust” and no one wanting to know the truth, but in the end it just sounds silly. Just One Dance cranks up the bass and throws in some cowbell, but it reminded me of Linda Ronstadt’s How Do I Make You. I’m not going to lie, I bought that 45 and enjoyed it, but a few years later I was kinda embarrassed by it, and I love Linda. I think at this point Eve Moon is trying too hard. One song to go. Rhythm and Booze is a decent pun, and I’m willing to embrace this dopey tune because, well, I think I like Eve Moon. Despite her lack of sophistication and songwriting chops, she’s willing to go for it, an important trait in the ‘80’s. There’s even a little cocaine Chuck Berry in this cornball closer. When Eve yells “Come on, baby!” at the end, I’m thinking, OK. I’m in. Rock me tonight, Ms. Moon.
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