Search for a searing rocker of the "Treat Me Right" stripe on Pat Benatar's new album, and you search in vain. Coproducers Neil Geraldo and Peter Coleman have discarded the guitar-heavy thrash that was so successful in turning Benatar from just another cabaret canary into a top-flight rock & roll performer. Perhaps influenced by the success of the milder "Love Is a Battlefield," Tropico shoots for textures instead of tear-'em-ups, variation in place of vroom. "We Belong" showcases the benefits of that new approach here; it's undeniably a fine performance, though I suspect that the song – by two outside writers – could have been a hit for just about any artist.

Indeed, Neil Geraldo – principal songwriter as well as coproducer and guitarist – is more the focus of Tropico than is his wife. He seems to have put in more time on the fussy, overdone arrangements than on the songwriting. "Ooh Ooh Song" is especially poor; its cheesy organ sound and frantic tempo can't cover up the tune's essential emptiness. Piquant choruses and some lovely singing from Mrs. G. bolster the dreamy "Painted Desert" and the spirited, heart-hurt "Love in the Ice Age." Vocally, Pat certainly has the ability to project emotion without screaming her head off.

Too often, though, the songs she's been given are more precious than pretty – and that's just not forgivable with material that says as little as "Suburban King" or the self-pitying "Takin' It Back." A throwback or two to the amp-busting music that brought her this far – Benatar's thrilling mezzo-soprano against Geraldo's guitar roar – might have showed off Tropico's more novel sounds to better advantage. Instead, it seems flaccid; it's the work of people too busy tinkering with the engine to see where the boat is going. (RS 440)

CHRISTOPHER CONNELLY