Little Robbers

All Four One The Motels' third album All 4 One finds the group working the fine line between mainstream arena-rock and quirky new wave pop. Their roots lie in the sleek, polished Californian hard rock that dominated late-'70s and early-'80s album-oriented radio, but All 4 One has a shiny ...	All Four One	Shock	The Motels	Freeze Frame Digitally remastered edition of the album that took this group to the top of the charts on the strength of the single "Centerfold". After years of touring and honing their sound, J. Geils Band were suddenly the toast of the town, also due in part to their exposure on the fledgl...
The Who: The Ultimate Collection The Who's mighty catalog of beautiful, poignant, and often silly pop songs bashed out with Cassius Clay finesse has suffered in the past at the hands of multiple, butcher-shop best-ofs and horrible packaging. But this thrilling band--undeniably one of ye classicke rocke's greates...	Seconds Out	The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway When it comes to making albums of epic proportions, few rival this magnificent production that a trip the band took to New York City inspired in 1973. The underlying story is of a street kid named Rael who, thanks in part to the realities of big city life, undergoes a weird and m...	Little Creatures Having spent the early '80s in a giddy expansion of the sound and scale of their studio recordings and concerts, Talking Heads come full circle with this 1985 album, retracting to the core quartet and restoring a focus on David Byrne's knotty songs. Arriving in the wake of the fe...	The Best of Kansas

Motels' Best...
This is without doubt Motels' best album, it contains great gems such as "Suddenly Last Summer", "Remember The Nights" and my personal favorite "Footsteps" which looks like it is totally ignored by all the reviewers here. Even though never released as a single, this mixed reggea/synth pop song was a huge success here in Lebanon. Nowadays, this CD is not available in the market but if you come across a used copy don't hesitate to grab it. Hopefully it will be re-released by Capitol records.

It's a steal
Having suddenly discovered what success tasted like, The Motels were more than willing to re-mine the same vein. "Little Robbers" kicked off just like its predecessor; "Where Do We Go From Here" is all but carbon copied from All Four One's "Mission of Mercy." But where "Only The Lonely" was the breakthrough ballad, this time, "Suddenly Last Summer" was the stunner and upped the ante of that first hit. Much like The Police's "Every Breath You Take," "Suddenly Last Summer" was a pitch perfect slice of radio pop. Martha Davis' sultry vocals work their magic on the hook-laden melody. It deservedly became The Motels' second (and final) top 10 hit. The album also knocked off a second solid single with "Remember The Nights." Problem was, after the singles, "Little Robbers" was not as solid as "All Four One." There was even a groaner with "Isle of You," and some generic AOR stuff that hasn't held up so well. The best of the album can be found on The Essential Collection, much like their final album, Shock. Some really good stuff here, with Martha Davis remaining one of the 80's more charismatic female vocalists.

Don't Beware of Little Robbers
For the follow up to All Four One, The Motels ran with the pop mainstream sound Capitol Records had pushed on them. Perhaps because of the Apocalypso sessions, All Four One still had a high arty vibe to it; Little Robbers leaves that vibe behind to push it more into the rock/pop of the early 80's. That's not to say Little Robbers isn't a good album because it is. It's really good in fact, but to truly appreciate it I think you have to leave the memory of the greatness that is found on Careful and All Four One and look at the album as a product of itself. Little Robbers launched two of the best singles The Motels ever put out - "Suddenly Last Summer" with its sweeping melancholy vibe of forgotten memories and "Remember The Nights" which follows along the same lines. In fact, the whole of Little Robbers seems to be one of misbegotten youth and long lost love affairs. Opening with "Where Do We Go From Here (Nothing Sacred)", the rock vibe hits you right off lambasting with an eerie keyboard lead which makes you take a whole new look at the cover artwork, a purple and yellow mesh of 20's gangster flicks, once again emulating Martha's stance on "music noir." Album tracks keep up the vibe with the riotous title track, the bouncy "Trust Me" and the excellent take on youth gone wild, "Into The Heartland" co-written with Bernie Taupin, which finds the lead characters of Martha and a girl named Rita on a rampage after stealing a Pontiac. The chorus is as hilarious as the song is rocking, "Rita's fingers fumblin' trying to roll one/ My frozen fingers trying to find a cold one/Tonight we dine on the line and the lone one/As I gun this sucker straight into the heartland." The working person's hum drums are featured on "Monday Shutdown" with a synth driven type writer for a back drop while "Isle Of You" takes a clever turn with it's lyrics (try to escape from the isle of you... as in `I love you'), the final tracks "Tables Turned" and "Footsteps" are exactly what Capitol Records was probably trying to push on the band and onto the radio, pop styling that though written by Martha seem to lack a bit of the creativity and cleverness associated with her best work. Not to say they aren't good songs either, because I bounce and sing along with Martha but after the great songs offered to us by the Motels, they both seem to be rehashed from ideas that have proceeded them. Though kudos have to be given for the cool New Wavey organ solo in "Footsteps." This should really be reissued and with the bonus cuts of "Some Things Never Change" the b-side of "Suddenly Last Summer" and one of the best Motels songs ever, and the b-side to "Remember The Nights" - "Killing Time."

"Into The Heartland" = one of the best rock songs EVER
I loved the Motels first album but I can't say they ever produced anything afterwards that interested me EXCEPT FOR "Into The Heartland" off this album. It's EASILY one of the best, most pure, most solid rock tunes EVER PRODUCED. It's not Politically Correct and I was amazed it got any airplay (I heard it on the late, great KMET 94.7 FM in LA). It's darn near PEOPLE'S music as opposed to the endless corporate drek we hear everywhere. Little fingers only trying to roll one, my frozen fingers trying to find a cold one... As we gun this sucker straight into the heartland. Maybe it was an happy accident, but they NAILED this song, this is pure rock and roll that is EASILY worth the purchase price of the CD. BUY IT NOW WHILE IT'S STILL IN PRINT. And if you like the Motels, the other tunes are some of their best work. But, darn, "Into The Heartland" could be a national anthem, it is really right up there with "Born To Run," it's that good, no kidding. BUY IT!!!

Stop Here For The Motels!
THIS IS A GREAT ALBUM! MARTHA DAVIS IS SENSATIONAL! I REMEMBER SEEING THEM AT IRVINE MEADOWS IN 1983, AND THEY JUST BLEW ME AWAY WITH THEIR TALENT! IT WAS SO COOL TO SEE LIFE-SIZED CARDBOARD CUT-OUTS OF ALL THE BAND MEMBERS ON STAGE, AND THEN HAVING EACH MEMBER COME OUT FROM BEHIND EACH ONE! AND MARTHA WITH HER CLASSIC CIGARETTE IN ONE HAND AND A GLASS OF RED WINE IN THE OTHER! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! LITTLE ROBBERS WILL NOT DISAPPOINT! A+!