Shot of Love
has often been called
Lakeside
's debut album, but in fact, it was
's second. In 1977,
came out with an album that didn't go very far, and it was
that made the band well known. Fueling the success of this album (which first came out on
Solar
and was reissued on CD by
The Right Stuff
in 1997) was the gutsy funk smoker
"It's All the Way Live,"
and almost as strong are the infectious title song and the classy soul ballads
"Given in to Love"
and
"Visions of My Mind."
But as much as
Shot
has going for it, the album on the whole isn't outstanding. Enjoyable certainly, but not outstanding. A product of Ohio's rich funk scene,
was so live-oriented that it seemed to hold back a bit in the studio. (It's absolutely insane that
never released a double-live
set.)
was the first
release to boast one of its famous thematic covers; this one depicted the funksters as Robin Hood-type archers, whereas on future covers, they'd be everything from pirates (
Fantastic Voyage
) to jockeys (
Keep on Moving Straight Ahead
) to genies (
Your Wish Is My Command
). ~ Alex Henderson