Jane Wiedlin - Fur (1988)

Unlike Jane Wiedlin's superior solo debut, 1988's Fur spawned a hit single, the admittedly quite good "Rush Hour." Unfortunately, much of the rest of this album is disappointingly drab. Stephen Hague's slickly synthesized production buries the songs in layers of MIDI keyboards, sequencers, and drum machines (courtesy of ex-Naked Eyes keyboardist Rob Fisher) that tend to obscure the songs themselves. Unfortunately, the other part of the problem is that the songs (all of them co-written by outside collaborators, including Hague and Bruce Woolley) aren't all up to snuff. "Rush Hour" and the haunting ballad "The End of Love" are the best of the lot, with "Song of the Factory" close behind, but many of the other tracks are filler, and a couple just don't work at all. The attempt at a tough-girl pose on the clattering "Homeboy" doesn't wash, given Wiedlin's babytalk voice, and the horrendous synth horns sure don't help matters any. The title track gets points for addressing Wiedlin's deeply felt position on animal rights, and makes a fair point by addressing the uselessness of fur coats rather than the inherent cruelty, but the song's melody isn't particularly interesting, which blunts the song's potential impact. That heartfelt tune aside, Fur largely sounds like Wiedlin was being led by EMI's A&R team instead of thinking for herself.