Robert Gordon - Lost Album Plus (1998)

When Robert Gordon entered the recording studio in June 1980 to record what was to be his fifth album, it was make or break time with RCA. He emerged from the studio with 12 songs, but RCA wasn't happy with what they had heard, so they sent him back to work on more material. The material that he began working on that November eventually became his final RCA album, Are You Gonna Be The One, while only two songs from the June sessions were ever released. This fantastic Bear Family release compiles the other ten unreleased tracks from those sessions, and they are stunning. Leaving the rockabilly rebel in his back pocket, Gordon concentrates on pure pop and rock 'n' roll, never trying to be commercial or mainstream, yet sounding instantly accessible. His version of the Beatles' "Run For Your Life" rocks with more venom than the original, while the Elvis classic "Suspicion" equals the original in emotional power. Other gems include the driving "I Found You," the grooving "Movin' Too Slow," and the dramatic "So Young, So Bad." "It Hurts So Much" and "One Day Left" are fantastic pop songs. Marshall Crenshaw's "Wasting My Time" sounds as if it could have been recorded at the legendary Sun Studios. And on top of all these great unheard tracks, you get the remainder of Gordon's recordings from Private Stock and RCA that didn't end up on Bear Family's Red Hot 1977-1981 and Black Slacks compilation CDs.