Eric Burden's Fire Dept. Last Drive (Vinyl, Ariola Records, 1980) ****
Genre: Pop/Rock
Places I remember: Spellbound Wax Company (Gisborne); Real Groovy Records' $10 bin
Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: The Last Drive
Gear costume: Highway Dealer (Survivor)
Active compensatory factors: The man is prolific! He seems to be forever forming bands, reforming bands, playing in a myriad of lineups. Throughout it all, his vocals for The Animals and with War loom large. They eclipse Eric's solo adventures but whatever the context, there is that spectacular voice. He's a giant of the rock world.
Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: The Last Drive
Gear costume: Highway Dealer (Survivor)
Survivor is from the late seventies and features a few guests like Maggie Bell, P. P. Arnold, Zoot Money and Alexis Korner. It's a spirited effort without rising above average. The most off putting thing about the album for me is the cover pose which makes him look too much like David Cassidy for my liking.
Last Drive is the only album by Eric Burden's Fire Dept. Recorded in West Germany and made up of mostly European musicians it rocks harder and more consistently than Survivor. In short, Burdon sounds more committed in this setting. The band toured and broke up pretty quickly, leaving this album as its legacy. The cover on this one is great too - drawn by Eric.
Where do they all belong? More to come from Eric with War when we get back into the CDs.
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