Detective
AMG EXPERT REVIEW: A strong debut gambit, but fans were too busy waiting in line for their Bad Company tickets. Fittingly enough, the album launches with a hard-bitten slide blues on the frustrated desire for fame, "Recognition." Heavy bass and drum stomps abound, and both "Got Enough Love" and "Ain't None of Your Business" almost beat AC/DC at their own game. But Detective falters when it deviates from this formula: during the cheesy MOR jazz-blues on "Deep Down" and the obligatory lighter-waving ballad "Nightingale," you can feel the band losing altitude. Still, for the genre effort that it is, this can pack a good wallop. ~ Paul Collins
It Takes One To Know One
AMG EXPERT REVIEW: Detective wasn't without its detractors who dismissed the short-lived band as a poor man's Led Zeppelin. But Detective had more to offer than that. To be sure, Detective was heavily influenced by Zeppelin, but it wasn't a knee-jerk Zeppelin clone -- and its bluesy brand of hard rock also owed a lot to Bad Company and Free and Pretty Things. Released in 1977, It Takes One to Know One was the second of Detective's two studio albums. This LP is uneven; a few of the tunes are pedestrian and forgettable (especially the sappy MOR numbers "Warm Love" and "Something Beautiful"). But when Detective hits its mark -- and it often does -- the listener is happy to have this record in his/her collection. The album's best songs (which include "Dynamite," "Competition," and "Tear Jerker") pack an invigorating hard rock punch. Equally memorable is "Are You Talkin' to Me?," which was obviously inspired by Robert De Niro's famous line in the film {#Taxi Driver}. That Martin Scorsese masterpiece came out in 1976, and Detective's 1977 song is an example of how De Niro's line quickly became a part of popular culture. Imperfections and all, It Takes One to Know One is worth having in your collection if you have a taste for bluesy, riff-oriented hard rock. ~ Alex Henderson
