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(from scrapbook 1, page 39)

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S. Quo maintain the status q.

STATUS QUO: Blue For You (Vertigo)

AT THIS stage in their career, Status Quo should have recorded a live album.

Instead, they've returned to the studio environment to make "Blue For You", which undoubtedly falls into place as a continuation of the formula they initiated five albums ago with "Dog Of Two Heads".

Of course, the band's argument will be Why change direction when the sales of the last album were phenomenal? And why tamper with a well-drilled approach when the concert halls are packed fit to bust?

Not for the reviewer's venefit, certainly. And apparently not for their own, because they seem quite content to tread a well-worn path, which is at the moment as safe as the proverbial houses.

But how long could Duane Eddy have continued playing "Shazam" or the Kinks "You Really Got Me"? Eventually, the formula becomes too predictable, musicians' aspirations too great to be confined within such strict limitations, and punters and players alike get so brassed off that the bubble bursts.

Now, if Quo had given the studio a miss this time around and put out a live album which is a genuine representation of their act rather than a mere extension as their studio sets invariably are, it would have allowed them the time to assess the real structural strength of their formula.

This may relieve the pressure and offer them the opportunity to work on the concept, and perhaps carry out a few crucial modifications. Or can they really continue until pigs learn to fly?

If this album is any guide, then apparently not. Only one of the four tracks on side two seems to have any impact, and that ("Mystery Song") is, ironically enough, a digression towards a lighter approach with considerably more care taken over the arrangement.

But when a band reaches their sixth album, you really expect something more substantial than lyrics like, "Sitting in a cornfield/Looking at a cob/Thinking of a long line/Waiting for a job".

Quo, though, can still pack excitement into the grooves, as the first side illustrates. Of course it's down to personal choice whether or not you dig it, but the constant boogie rhythm of Rick Parfitt's guitar, with Mike Rossi adding the limited lead lines, and Alan Lancaster on bass and drummer John Coughlan hammering out the tempo still sounds remarkably fresh; and surpringly so, considering that they've used this technique on practically every track they've recorded during the '70's.

The only evident change between this set and any one of their previous five is a change in lyrics and melody lines, and a poppy top which harks back to their "Dustpipe" days with cuts like like "Ring Of A Change".

Really, if you consider "Blue For You" as a separate entity then its quality is dubious. It does, however, prove they can spint out the secret of their success onto yet another set.

Tony Stewart

Image caption: " "Ere, Rick - I think they've bleedin' sussed us."