Is ABC jumping on the heavy-metal bandwagon, or has Martin Fry, the band's singer-leader, just taken leave of his senses? Whatever the reason, ABC's self-produced Beauty Stab is an album of maddeningly unequal parts and a playground for Fry's peculiarly didactic lyrical conceits and the band's unchecked musical indulgences. Kicking off with "That Was Then but This Is Now," Fry stirs up some excitement with his rousing, Bryan Ferry-style singing, but it's completely undermined by the next cut, "Love's a Dangerous Language," with its scratching, off-kilter guitar antics and inexplicable melodic shifts.

On the plus side, there's "If I Ever Thought You'd Be Lonely," an attractively synthesized mood painting, and "S.O.S.," a beach-blanket soul number as cool as an island drink. The best moment is "Unzip," which alone recalls the sensual intensity of The Lexicon of Love, the group's Trevor Horn-produced debut album. After that, it's straight downhill. Floundering in heavy-metal clichés, "The Power of Persuasion" sounds targeted for the back rows of a domed stadium, while the jumbled "Hey Citizen" hits the listener with a barrage of honking horns, tired Jethro Tull-like riffs and crossword-puzzle lyrics that are supposed to add up to some sort of cautionary statement.

Beauty Stab closes with "United Kingdom," an excessively earnest protest song for piano and voice that limps along like a school songwriting-contest entry. It's a reminder of how often ABC misses the mark on their second LP. Indeed, by seizing a greater amount of artistic control over the recording process, it seems that Martin Fry has only succeeded in shooting a poison arrow into his own foot. (RS 415)

ERROL SOMAY