.38 Special - Strength in Numbers (CD)

All Music Guide

The recruitment of Jim Vallance behind the drums and bass player Mike Porcaro didn't bring .38 Special the kind of help they were looking for with 1986's Strength In Numbers. After a string of convincing albums Wild Eyed Southern Boys, Special Forces, Tour De Force ) from the early eighties, the band decided to take a couple of years off before returning to the studio, but after doing so, it seems that they've left their knack for producing affable radio songs behind them. The album sports a minor hit in "Like No Other Night", but it can't compare to recent efforts like "If I'd Been The One", "Back Where You Belong", or "Teacher Teacher" where Van Zant was vocally perfect and both guitarists complimented him to create some appealing rock radio hits. Actually, there's no appealing guitar craft to be found on the album, and even though Van Zant sounds somewhat spirited on two or three tracks, Strength In Numbers still suffers from a lack of whole-hearted song writing and unexciting rhyth...ms. A little bit of color emerges from some occasional sax and trombone bits, but the overall package is below the standards of what .38 Special is capable of. Actually, it's with Strength In Numbers that the band began to diminish in all areas, and the albums that followed failed to demonstrate any solid song craft beyond their respected singles. - Mike DeGagne, All Music Guide Read more Less