Fly Like An Eagle - STEVE MILLER BAND***

Space Intro/Fly Like An Eagle/Wild Mountain Honey/Serenade/Dance Dance Dance/Mercury Blues/Take The Money & Run/Rock 'N Me/You Send Me/Blue Odyssey/Sweet Maree/The Window

Fly Like An Eagle continues Steve Miller’s journey into the rock mainstream, exploring the use of synths to create a spacey vibe. Features the US No.1 hit single Rock ‘N’ Me. (US:3 UK:11)

“The first few songs are really nice, lots of spacey synth work floating around the mellow blues sounds. Then things get gradually worse with a series of Eagles and Free imitative tracks, and an awful Sam Cooke cover with not much else of any real note.”

“A good record that mixes blues and pop. The songs are pretty enjoyable, though they are far from memorable and the guitar playing is a bit too simplistic and bland. Still it still makes for a worthwhile listen.”

“A winning mix of blues and pop from Steve, garnished with some space-age synth doodling for effect. To be sure, some of the material is a bit hokey, especially the glutinous re-make of You Send Me and the dorkish country hoedown Dance Dance Dance. Some of the more authentic bluesy material sounds a little at odds with the radio-friendly pop stuff, but the more you play the album, the more it hangs together.”

“It seems that around the early to mid-seventies a good number of guitarists were laying down said instrument in favour of the synthesizer. Steve Miller incorporated the synth on Fly Like An Eagle, adding some atmospheric space rock sounds to his bluesy pop template.”

“Not his best effort. In spite of excessive radio play, it still has some good songs. This was his last gasp. Check out his stuff from the 1960s.” “This was Miller at his radio friendly best, hook laden songwriting, ace lead guitar work, warm vocals and lyrics that occasionally soar with the music. The only down notes are the by-the-numbers cover of Sam Cooke's You Send Me and the fact that the rest of the material is filler, but that's just quibbling.”

“While this is a pretty solid mix of bluesy pop rock, its also a bit too tame and bland. Beyond the hits so little manages to actually catch your ear.”