Rick Derringer - Face To Face (2010)

... 1980, Face To Face finding Derringer teaming up with bassist Donnie Kisselbach. The pair split the songwriting on the album and while it leans on the poppy-rocky-prog of Guitars And Women, the results are a much less forced set of songs. "Runaway" pulls in numerous directions, reminding of everyone from ELO to Supertramp via Cheap Trick, while "Big City Loneliness" is almost a Paul McCartney like slowie. With "Burn The Midnight Oil" a big bold rocker and "Let The Music Play" almost veering into 10CC territory, the real surprise comes as live versions of "Jump Jump Jump" (from All American Boy) and the Neil Young classic "My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)" focus on a bluesy guitar side that is the polar opposite of the studio cuts - especially when the studio take of the good time rock and roll of "I Want A Lover" falls in between the pair. Somehow the disparity it creates actually heightens the experience, highlighting the class on show as it does so.