Geordie - Save The World (Japan Bonus Tracks, 2006)

As the ‘70s wore on, British glam rockers Geordie were looking less like contenders and more like pretenders with each passing day. Their first two albums had yielded no certifiable hits, and thus the early promise they'd shown had been gradually overshadowed by accusations that they were nothing more than a second-rate Slade. So, needless to say, the pressure was on as the quartet prepared to release its third studio long-player -- the falsely confident of named Save the World -- in 1976, which may well explain why its songs pointed in several distinct directions. Opening gambit "Mama's Gonna Take You Home" (previously a minor hit for Jericho) flexes some bluesy hard rock muscle, but then the horns-adorned "She's a Teaser" brings Geordie back, smack-dab, into the glam rock sweet spot, and the fact that both directions work on some levels but fail to wow completely pretty much says it all about the band's tricky predicament. This predicament is only exacerbated, later on, by similarly opposed cuts like "She's a Lady" and "Ride on Baby," the title track, and "We're All Right Now," making for a creative stalemate where neither persuasion comes out victorious. And when the lads attempt to diversify with radical fare like "I Cried Today" -- some kind of comedy reggae pastiche -- they really fall flat on their faces, totally failing to bother the charts for all their efforts. Apparently, these diminishing returns were more than singer Brian Johnson could stand, and he quit to pursue a doomed solo career soon after the album's release (only to fail at that and wind up working in garage until AC/DC came knocking). And Geordie, alas, were obviously in no condition to save the world if they couldn't even save themselves.