If You Can't Stand The Heat - STATUS QUO***

Again & Again/I'm Giving Up My Worryin'/Gonna Teach You To Love Me/Someone Show Me Home/Long Legged Linda/Oh What A Night/Accident Prone/Stones/Let Me Fly/Like A Good Girl

Despite the high chart placing fans appear to be disappointed with If You Can’t Stand The Heat. The complaints are that there are too many synths, the inclusion of female backing vocals, and a jarring disco sound with horns. The single release Again & Again reached No. 13 in the UK. (UK:3)

“It didn't quite sport the same sterile production as its predecessor, as the guitars were louder and crunchier, while the rhythm section did have more of a spontaneous feel to it. To counter these improvements though, the band deemed it necessary to smother large swathes of the album with overbearing synth and worse. The inclusion of female backing singers and even the occasional horn section, neither of which had any place on a Quo album.”

“As a whole, the album is very dated - lots of late 70s disco influences with the horns and backing singers and some of the drum sounds, but in a way that adds to the album's charm. Certainly a good few of these songs stink, but they're easy to forgive if they're treated merely as artefacts of the time in which they were created.”

“It always disappoints me to read that this is one of Quo's lesser albums. In my opinion there isn’t a poor track here. In addition there is a variety of styles throughout. I think it is better than some of the earlier ones being a more complete album. If you are a Quo fan and don’t own this I think you need to reconsider.”

“With this release, the wheels were starting to come off the Status Quo express. Part of the problem is the production, a lot of the traditional Quo sound seemed to have been taken away. Some songs are weaker too, certainly not up to Quo's previous standard. Not that it is a bad album, far from it; Again & Again is a top class tune.”

“The sound is heavily produced and cleaned up. Ultimately, they were trying too hard to blend their boogie sound with a then up to date mix, with only partial success.”

“Opening with a typical Quo belter Again & Again, complete with guitar heroics solo from Rossi, you are unprepared for some of the clunkers which follow. Ultimately this is a disappointing album, with lacklustre performance, average songs, let down by electronic drums and percussion.”