man's Springsteen. But since then it's become painfully obvious that no matter how much conviction he's worked up as a singer, Money just isn't a very intriguing or original songwriter. (What do you expect of a guy who calls his song-publishing company Cashola Music?) Still, he's usually good for a few slabs of likable stadium rock per disc, and on Can't Hold Back the real standout is "I Wanna Go Back," a yearning midtempo number on which Money sounds almost soulful.

But too much of Can't Hold Back is just by-the-numbers chord progressions matched with lazy, standard-issue rock lyrics. At the climax of "Take Me Home Tonight," for instance, Money sings, "I feel a hunger," then meaningfully elaborates, "It's a hunger!" And even when Money gets what's arguably a good idea, like having Ronnie Spector sing the "Be My Baby" refrain on "Take Me Home Tonight," he drives it into the ground by repeating it ad nauseam. Eddie Money's problem isn't so much that he can't hold back; it's that he just doesn't have all that much to offer. (RS 486)

DAVID WILD