Its name to the contrary, this alliance of slick British soul singer Robert Palmer and former Chic drummer Tony Thompson with two of Duran Duran's three unrelated Taylors – guitarist Andy and pinup bassist John – suffers from an acute power shortage on its debut album. The mix of Duran Duran's theatrical New Wave fluff and the lean funk bottom of Chic's nimble Seventies disco hits is at least an interesting prospect. But it has yielded leaden dance-floor maneuvers like "Go to Zero," with its static hook, and mediocre hard-rock blasts, among them a crass attempt at T. Rex' "Bang a Gong (Get It On)," which features an oily Palmer vocal and too much grandstand fuzz guitar.

The Power Station – the name comes from the New York studio where it was recorded – has its occasional successes, particularly when Thompson and John Taylor, a far tougher bassman than his dreamboat looks suggest, lock up the beat. In the hit single "Some Like It Hot," the closest this album ever gets to a model Duran-Chic hybrid, Thompson's bold wallop and Taylor's agile boom bubble like hot lava. "Communication" surges with the same confidence, topped off by a dynamic pop melody and some of Palmer's least mannered singing. These moments are not enough to compensate for Bernard Edwards' drab, metallic production or the indifferent clomp of the dance tracks. Given the low wattage, a better name for this band might have been the Mild Boys. (RS 448)

DAVID FRICKE