By no exertion of the imagination are James Gang the greatest rock and roll band ever to walk the face of the earth or anything (although some maintain that they are the greatest rock and roll band ever to have walked the face of Cleveland, Ohio), but they are capable of some nice little treats every now and again.

As a lead guitarist Joe Walsh ain't gonna cure any cripples, for even though he possesses sufficient restraint and expertise with his wall of amplifiers and arsenal of electronic doo-dads to make your average heavy-trio guitarist pass out from envy, he scarcely ever fails to stick a few bars of hackneyed doodlings in before and after his moments of genuine inspiration, invention, ingenuity, insouciance, and/or industry.

Nevertheless, he writes pleasant little tunes that he sings in a pleasant little voice. "Walk Away," for instance (wherein the Gang bang and bash in a manner more reminiscent of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre than of their namesakes), is catchy, tuneful, and capable of inducing the uninhibited to perform the funky chicken, skate, hitchhike, or other teenage dance. And even though Joe is no terrific shakes as a balladeer, his slower tunes "Again" and "It's All The Same" nonetheless emerge slightly enjoyable owing to the pretty horns and pretty acoustic guitar riff they're endowed with, respectively. Pretty.

"Midnight Man," though, is Joe Walsh at his best when all is said and done. Never mind that in several ways it's an unblushing, ahem, ripoff of "Nowhere Man"–can anyone deny that the Hawaiian guitar and background singing are real, real nice? Furthermore, what I personally love most about it is how, after Joe's sung two verses about how he's the midnight man, blah blah, a young lady with a fabulous silky and completely expressionless 1962 voice comes in to sing the third verse to the midnight man, or, in this case, Joe. It's so fucking cute your mind will fall out.

Mine did.

Right after "Walk Away" there's a pleasant supper-club background jazz work-out featuring Jim Fox on vibes (no pun intended) called "Yadig," which for no discernible reason makes the reviewer yearn to say, "James Gang In A Mellow Mood Live At The Club Relaxez."

I should mention drummer Jim Fox's "Live My Life Again" because it has the only interesting words on the album (and, debatably, the worst guitar solo). Perhaps Pete Townshend, who's reportedly an admirer of both, could introduce King Crimson's lyricist to James Gang. It'd be worth a try.

The rest of the album is just kinda real negligible, albeit listenable, except for bassman Dale Peters' "White Man/Black Man," a real no-two-ways-about-it embarrassment in the form of an overproduced plea for Greater Understanding between the races so that we can all Live Together. In that Mr. Peters' other contribution to Thirds, "Dreaming In The Country," is the obligatory shit-kicking throwaway, it might be judicious of Walsh, Fox, a concerned roadie, the group's manager, Bill Szyczyk, or the president of ABC Records to throttle him the next time the look in his eyes says, "I gotta new 'riginal!"

Thus it can be seen that, although James Gang are by no exertion of the imagination the greatest rock and roll band ever to walk the face of the earth (outside Cleveland, Ohio), they are capable of some nice little treats every now and again. Bless them. (RS 87)

J. MENDELSOHN