Album Title: I’ve Got the Rock ‘N’ Rolls Again
Artist: Joe Perry Project
Year: 1981
Running Time: 38m 46s

Track listing: 1 East Coast, West Coast; 2 No Substitue for Arrogance; 3 I’ve Got the Rock ‘N’ Rolls Again; 4 Buzz Buzz; 5 Soldier of Fortune; 6 TV Police; 7 Listen to the Rock; 8 Dirty Little Things; 9 Play the Game; 10 South Station Blues

Following the reasonably successful Joe Perry Project debut album (“Let the Music do the Talking” reached #47 despite efforts by his record company to crush it in a bid to get Joe Perry back into Aerosmith), the band released their follow-up. Former lead singer Ralph Morman was fired to be replaced by Charlie Farren and the Project were hanging on by their teeth.

There are a few pretty good cuts on the album. Firstly, the methodical and beautifully executed ‘Play the Game’. It might have been a song of seeming hopelessness and tragedy but Perry is far from hopeless as his powerful solo chords are a perfect compliment to Charlie Farren’s depressed vocal.

‘No Substitute for Arrogance’ is a wonderfully strutting rocker, a perfect vehicle for two arrogant guitarists. ‘Dirty Little Things’ is probably the best track on the album with Farren doing his best Kiss impression. Nice upbeat tune, cool vocals, both lead and backing. ‘East Coast, West Coast’ is a fast-moving tale of 80s rock-n-roll decadence. Not particularly sophisticated or ground-breaking but cool to listen to all the same.

Things drop a notch after that. ‘Listen to the Rock’ is a determined but dated rocker which must have been baked in the ‘1980s Oven of Sound’ and ‘South Station Blues’ is a Perry vocal which encapsulates the desperate and resigned attitude he must have been developing at the time. Some nice guitar from Perry holds an average track together.

But there is too much standard fare here. ‘Buzz Buzz’ is an odd rocker, has it’s moments but sounds partially infantile, ‘Soldier of Fortune’ is average enough too and the chorus is just repetitive and annoying, while ‘TV Police’ just ends up being banal.

Time had run out on the Project but for fans the album is worth a shot.