Peter Frampton: Premonition : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

You have to admire the guy's spunk. Premonition is Peter Frampton's third comeback attempt since his meteoric rise and disastrous fall in the late Seventies, and frankly it's a more aggressive record than you'd expect from the former boy-king of AOR rock. The genial glow in his voice is now scarred by an unbecoming harshness. More than half of the songs are about pain and rejection, clichéd broken-heart stories laced with thinly veiled references to his own ex-pop-star hell. "I know the feeling when you're losing all control," he declares in the dirgelike title stomp, his frustration illustrated by bullish guitar breaks in which his old snazzy harmonic jumps feel more like a mean kick in the shins.

In fact, it's the openly begrudging tone of Frampton's sniping guitar solos and iron-fisted arrangements that makes Premonition preferable to the limp angst dished out by current pop teddy bears like John Waite and Corey Hart. "Moving a Mountain," with its clucking metallic guitar, John Bonham-like goose-step drumming and surprisingly bright chorus, is good Xerox Zeppelin. "Lying" updates the agreeable bounce of Frampton's mid-Seventies hits with an Eighties power-rock production, a steely keyboard finish topping the hard martial bottom.

Unfortunately, Frampton's songwriting is not equal to his fighting spirit. Superficial throbbers like "You Know So Well" and the funky, lumbering "Stop" lack the playful melodic guile that made Frampton's early solo work – 1972's Wind of Change, for instance – so refreshing. "All Eyes on You," an otherwise pleasant, airy ballad; would have sounded just fine without its bloated, Spectorish chorus.

Despite its awkward moments, Premonition is basically a nice try by a nice guy. In 1977, it might have made a ballsy follow-up to Frampton Comes Alive! Alas, Premonition is a good hunch played too late.