STREETS OF FIRE

I think Duncan Browne's main body of work could be easily divided into two categories : the " solo troubadour-songwriter" period in which his first two albums really belong and the somewhat more interesting for the prog rock fan " glam period " where we find the other pair of his studio releases " The Wild Places " and this one " Streets of Fire ". Alarmingly, his new look on the sleeve of both albums completes this transition. But the music here, though not overtly prog, remains very good. First of all, the team of musicians here is excellent. We have Tony Hymas's Keyboards all over the place with a sound slightly ahead of its time making this album more polished from its predecessor and pointing to the AORish territory of the 80's which in the case of these well crafted compositions (all by Duncan himself) is by no means a bad thing, Secondly, the bass and drums are tight and fit well together as they've been heard clearly at the two more progressive cuts " Streets of Fire " and " Things to Come ". Especially the first one, is something like an extract from the Quiet Sun " Mainstream " or the "801 live" album and not surprisingly, since Simon Phillips had collaborated with Phil Manzanera in that album. Third, we have the great sax player Dick Morrisey who had being played with numerous others (If, Average White Band, Jon Anderson, Peter Gabriel to name a few) so we can find him here shining at the title cut and " She's Just A Fallen Angel", both the best tunes from "Streets of Fire". As I said before, this album is of a little interest from a prog point of view; It contains for sure memorable and melodic compositions with this late Roxy Music feel. Overall, I find it slightly better than " The Wild Places " but by the other hand nothing here holds so well like the classic title cut from that album. Lovers of this sound, can find both albums in one cd at a relatively cheap price. For this site, three stars.