Michael Mcdonald - No Lookin' Back • CDs • Vinyl Records • LPs • Music Albums

It isn't that McDonald rocks out, exactly – for one thing, Ted Templeman's antiseptic production is so assiduously polished that it makes Hotel California sound like Highway to Hell – it's just that he's no longer content to float over a comfortable cushion of synthesizers. These songs are toughened up with beefy power guitars and a big, punchy drum sound that gives the album the basics of the AOR approach. Trouble is, McDonald is mostly overwhelmed by all the extras. Rather than cut through the burnished roar of the guitars, his breathy exhortations fade into the mix. Worse, his mumble-mouthed diction garbles the lyrics hopelessly; there are times when, without the lyric sheet, it would be difficult to tell even what language he's singing in.

But No Lookin' Back is so monumentally inconsequential it's doubtful that even righting those wrongs would have saved it. "Any Foolish Thing" does manage to stumble onto a bit of the old Doobies charm, but the bulk of this album is utter piffle. McDonald's inability to move beyond his vocal limitations suggests that he might be simply the musical equivalent of a character actor, doomed forever to those parts demanding his particular mannerisms. If so, he'd better pay more attention to how he's being cast. (RS 459)

J.D. CONSIDINE