Don't know if
Tom Werman
is considered a production genius, but this in-house hair architect helmed some of the sharpest recordings in the catalogs of
Cheap Trick
,
Moetley Cruee
, and
the Producers
. He also varnished
Ted Nugent
's three-and-a-half stadium stompers per album and added enough subtle seasonings to the remaining roadkill to construct a consistent record while the MC Madman ran off to the stage or the woods. In 1979,
Nugent
's face graced a pinball game, but behind the bells and lights, he still needed the studio support of
Werman
on
State of Shock
to make the predictable pieces fit. The terrible one uses and abuses the same formula every outing, so nothing unexpected is expected. But drummer
Cliff Davies
takes over
's boards completely, and the crisp cutout sound starkly exposes recycled riffs and bloozy boredom.
Nuge
's brush with
the Beatles
pops out, but hints of his '80s dearth creep among too many fair-to-middling grooves, some of which, in
's tender terms,
"Bite Down Hard."
Course some erudite scholars justifiably claim
sizzles with the true
, no longer disinfected for the airwaves. Granted,
"Paralyzed,"
"Snake Charmer,"
and
"It Don't Matter"
are electrifying, with razor-sharp guitar, but these afternoon buzzers would sound better at the next
show, fired off with his other silver-tippers. Most
rock
music of the late '70s attained a dreamy level of sophistication where the listeners put on gargantuan headphones just to be closer to the music, regardless of the lyrics, but no need for phones here.
is only half-cocked and ended
's platinum period. Next time out he produces himself, and then keyboards hunt down
the Nuge
. ~ Doug Stone