First of all, let's be fair. Before he played Dr. Noah Drake on General Hospital and became a high-profile love thang for teenyboppers and housewives alike, Rick Springfield was already making pop music. And the fact is that over the years he's come up with some delectable ear candy, such as "Jessie's Girl" and "Don't Talk to Strangers," and he even showed the stirrings of a sense of humor with "Bruce." But Springfield's last album, 1985's Tao, was an overwrought, misguided bid for respectability. Come on, Rick, from you we don't want records with good taste, we want records that taste good.

Rock of Life is a mildly convincing return to form. "World Start Turning," "Soul to Soul" and "One Reason (to Believe)" are all midtempo rockers that pass the time pleasantly. And Springfield even pulls off a convincing cover of the Small Faces' perfectly fab "(If You Think You're) Groovy." The album's highlight, however, is the surreal "Honeymoon in Beirut" – a song about romantic disharmony and Middle Eastern unrest – which answers the musical question "What would it sound like if Daryl Hall were to replace John Oates with George Shultz?"

Springfield ends Rock of Life with a few adorable seconds of his son talking and banging at the keyboards. And – despite all your higher impulses – how can you not like a guy who does that? (RS 525)

DAVID WILD