The 1980 Listening Post - Ian Cussick - Right Through the Heart

 Reviewed by Sheffield Chastain

Released: 1980 Ian Cussick Right Through The Heart Genre: Funky Pop Disco Rock Melange Rating: 2.75 out of 5 Highlights: Sun A Rise What if you took the sound of Foreigner, funked it up a bit, jammed in some disco seasoning and then reduced the whole thing to pop cliches. That’s this. A funky pop disco rock melange with a singer who sounds pretty much like Graham Parker. I’ve said it before, Ian Cussick can SANG. Mmm mmm mmm. He’s the Scottish Graham Parker after all. This is the second Ian Cussick record I’ve reviewed and what I’ve come to learn about an Ian Cussick record is that an Ian Cussick record is pretty much a vehicle for Ian Cussick vocals. And not much else. Cussick wrote 6 of the 9 songs here and none are particularly memorable. The one highlight is Sun A Rise, a traditional Celtic tune with arrangements by Cussick. Man, if this had been the direction of the whole album you might really have something. I’m unfamiliar with Cussick’s oeuvre, except this and Hypertension, so perhaps one of his other 10 albums focuses on refashioning traditional Celtic music. Now THAT I’d like to hear.