DINNER AT THE RITZ

CITY BOY had a nice little career in the UK from the mid-seventies into the early eighties. "Dinner At The Ritz" is their second studio album and the only progressive one apparently. Man they seemed to take that 10CC/QUEEN route for the most part here, and AOR and Glam Rock come to the fore too of course as part of that. Some really catchy tracks here, and I wonder if the opener "Momma's Boy" or what follows "Walk On The Water" were ever hits in the UK. Sounds like radio material those two.

The title track is where that 10CC/QUEEN vibe is strongest. "Narcissus" is kind of dark until the chorus arrives where it turns poppy but with determined vocals. A pretty good song. These guys know how to create great material, I'm just not into some of it, but at the same time I get the appeal. See my QUEEN and 10CC reviews. "Goodbye Blue Monday" is the most adventerous piece on here in my opinion. Opening with synths before changing when the guitar arrives. Man this is CARDIACS-101 except that band hasn't arrived yet. Oh, so this is their inspiration. This song though changes throughout as they move on to a vocal/piano romp. Back to CARDIACS inspiration as themes are repeated and some humour too.

"The Violin" is certainly that. Well more like cascading strings as reserved vocals take over. It builds as the story continues with the focus on the vocals and lyrics. Violin before 3 1/2 minutes then vocals return with those strings. Hey we're only half way through, but that second half is like the first in many ways. Gotta love the bass to start the closer "State Secrets-A Thriller". A catchy vocal track but with some depth which I love. Catchy too. A great way to end it.

The first two tracks and the title track are keeping me from going 4 stars. I just find that with that one two punch to start that I'm listening to the FM radio back in the day. And the title track is too QUEEN-like. There is a reason why this band is under Prog-Related. Still, this is an album that gets a lot of props from Prog fans.