1990’s Don’t Explain lp finds Robert Palmer in an ambitious mood, attempting to highlight both his love of world music and jazz standards on an album featuring trademark hard rock. Essentially, this 18 song collection comes across like three separate mini albums, lacking a sense of cohesiveness when played as a whole, a jarring juxtoposition of divergent musical styles instead of one record. However, there are plenty of gems among the 18 tracks featured. Palmer showcases his love for African influenced melodies with the uptempo “Housework”, complete with clever humorous lyrics, and does a credible reggae version of Bob Dylan’s “I’ll Be Your Babt Tonight” with help from UB40 believe it or not. Actually, that song was a major hit single in the UK!! The first third of the album is dominated by the rock material, especially on the fast paced guitar driven metal songs “You’re Mother Should Have Told You” and “Can’t Get Enough Of A Good Thing”. The highlight is a rock power ballad version of Otis Redding’s “Dreams To Remember” where Palmer has to flex some vocal muscle and invoke some soul not present in the faster paced rock songs. “You’re Amazing” is a pleasant rocker (and a Top 40 US Hit Single), milder than the previous mentioned songs and similair to the singer’s 1988 hit “Simply Irresistible”, although not as good. The last third of this set sees the singer in full romance mode, alternating between inspired original compositions such as “Aeroplane” and “Not A Word” and …
Video Rating: 4 / 5
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