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I guess it was
somewhat ironic that shortly after Jim Capaldi released this album, former
Traffic partner Steve Winwood decided to resurrect his solo career with
1980's "Arc of a Diver". While Winwood's album went on
to be a massive international hit, Capaldi's sixth solo album "Electric
Nights" vanished without a trace.
With
Capaldi and Jimmy Miller separately handling production chores," Electric
Nights" was very much a product of it's time. One spin and most
listeners would be able to place it as a late-1970s recording. That
wasn't meant as a criticism, but the album simply dripped of that highly
produced, synthesizer drenched sound that you associate with that particular
timeframe. Capaldi always had a great voice (maybe not as instantly
recognizable as Winwood's, but easily as capable), and it remained in good
form across these nine tracks. Unfortunately this time out Capaldi
seemed to be casting around for a distinctive sound and an audience.
The result was an ill--focused album that seemed to be taking stabs at
virtually every genre under the sun including top-40 album oriented rock
'Shoe Shine', -
Complete with cheesy bubbling synthesizers and chirpy backing chorus, 'Shoe
Shine' found Capaldi dipping his toe into AOR. The track was actually
quite commercial and would have sounded okay on top-40 radio along side of
the likes of Bon Jovi and John Cougar Mellencamp (which is probably why it
was tapped as a European single), but it sounded more like calculated aural
product than anything. rating: *** stars -
Due in part to the fact it wasn't nearly as polished as most of the
collection, the rocker 'Hotel Blues' stood as one of my favorite
performances. Capaldi always sounded at his best when he
roughened up his sound a bit.
rating: *** stars -
Another rocker, 'White Jungle Lady'
suffered from an overdose of cuteness. You could almost hear the
record label telling Capaldi 'hey we need one more bar rocker' for the set
... rating: **
stars
- A stark, piano
powered ballad, 'Tabitha' was a pretty, but instantly forgettable ballad.
** stars
- It wasn't
quite a disco number, but the jittery rocker 'Time' was certainly danceable.
Yeah, it generated some energy and was probably one of the better songs on
the album, but that didn't mean I had to like it.
** stars -
Opening up side two, the title track was another slice of commercial
AOR. At least to my ears, Peter Bona's wah-wah guitar provided the
song's highlights.
rating: *** stars -
A breezy, soul-tinged ballad, 'Wild
Dogs' would have made a nice single, had it not been for the hideous
synthesizers. rating:
*** stars -
With a distinctive Latin tinge, the highlight of the rocker '1890' came in
the form of Peter Bonas 12 string acoustic guitar. rating:
** stars -
Another proficient ballad if MOR-tinged, 'Wild Geese' actually sounded a bit
like something off of a Paul Rodgers album. Mildly pretty, but again
quite forgettable.
rating: ** stars
As
mentioned, the album spun off a single in the form of: 
-
1979's 'Shoe Shine' b/w 'Tabitha' (Polydor catalog number POL 100) Which
I could recommend this one, but while listenable, there simply isn't
anything remotely special on this one.
"Electric Nights" track listing:
(side 1) 1.) Shoe
Shine (Jim Capaldi - Peter Bonas) - 4:52 2.)
Hotel Blues (Jim Capaldi) - 3:30 3.)
White Jungle Lady (Jim Capaldi) - 3:42 4.)
Tabitha (Jim Capaldi - R. Otu) - 4:11 5.)
Time (Jim Capaldi - Peter Bonas) - 4:38
(side
2)
1.) Electric Nights (Jim Capaldi) - 4:16 2.)
Wild Dogs (Jim Capaldi) - 4:48 3.)
1890 (Jim Capaldi - Peter Bonas) - 4:11 4.)
Wild Geese (Jim Capaldi - Peter Bonas) - 6:54
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