Thunder

by Doug StoneFormer Duran Duran six-stringer Andy Taylor ignites his solo career with a big bang boom on the rumble tumble "I Might Lie," a blistering lighting storm which rips the riff from "Beat It." Sex Pistol-packing journeyman Steve Jones helps Taylor keep these proceedings crisp and classicistic: saving the LP from drowning in an '80s morass of mechanized drums and ubiquitous keys, while focusing on crackling guitar chords which prove (along with Duran's robotic future) that Taylor was the guts of his former band. "Night Train" (not the most original title) kicks off the flip with an ambitious attempt at Ultravox that turns into Charlie Sexton (both fine by me). "Tremblin'" is a definite time-waster, but "Bringin' Me Down" soars in a plaintive Arc Angel sense. Taylor did not die young (the second and best song here), but he did fade away: Thunder remains his only solo outing (besides the Dangerous cover album) and its lack of sales led him into production (Thunder [natch], Rod Stewart) and back to the Power Station. The youthful axe-slinger disowned Thunder and became a hired gun, but this record's best demi-metal moments can still crack open the sky.