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Number of Eye Contact (1983) Reviews: 1
Reviewer: Edward R. Schwab, Contributor to Fleetwood Mac - Behind The Masks April 29, 2001 This is the last of a chain of albums Welch recorded
just prior to an apparent early retirement. Although
the matter at hand was substance abuse at the time,
his songwriting skills seemed undamaged. Entering into
a new musical age, Welch opted here to fuse pop with
fusion, something that so many since him had done
with greater sucess. This was his second recording
for RCA, and also his second without any contribution
whatsoever from any of his Mac bandmates (Fleetwood
had been his manager through the Capitol years). On
this disc, Welch seems to almost reek Devo or be a
predacessor for the likes of Thompson Twins and Nu
Shooz. A far cry from his early days in the 60's,
hiding in the bottom of tour busses during the Watts
Riots. But whereas the music was soulful, and one
could (in fact would) say more structured and lyric-
oriented, Eye Contact is sharper, brighter, and
cleaner than most of the other recordings he became
associated with. Taking advantage of new technology,
the sound left the listener with the impression that
the entire recording was made on a computer, something
that now (with MIDI capabilities), is commonplace. But
its worth noting that while the album may lack soul or
spirit, it does become almost injected with creative
license. "Fever" the single off the album (the single
version was better), wasnt even the shining star off
the disc. "Love On The Line" was by far the gem off
the album. Its laden, choral verses only complimented
by the ballad-y piano movements. "Bernadette" is quite
a refereshing piece that reflects back on something
that may have been released on The Other One. "I'll
Dance Alone", now reincarnated frequently on Napster
and in dance halls, grinds a robotic, bass synth
groove that steers the song along like a freight train
and still Welch finds more ways to explore his musical
identity. It is also worth noting that gone now com-
pletely, is Welch's gift for supernatural interests,
of which is a shame, becasue he is so well identified
with just that. A far-cry from his days with Fleetwood
Mac, listening to this album, almost makes it hard to
believe he was ever a part of the Bare Trees lineup or
ever wrote Hypnotized...Still, once again, Welch pro-
vided the listener with exactly what they expect to
get from a Bob Welch record...a different listening
experience with an always enjoyable approach to pop
music....
Transcribed to HTML by Jeff Kenney.
