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(from scrapbook 1, page 53)

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New LPs

STATUS QUO
Rock 'Til You Drop
PHONOGRAM 5114411

The brazenness of the repeated formula makes Quo albums seem increasingly sinister, like Andy Warhol's soup cans. Here - on the cassette and CD versions at any rate - is 80 minutes of chorus-heavy, multi-tracked, knees-up boogie which bears the same relation to R&B that Hammer Horror did to frightening film making. Amongst the worst brain softeners are the turgid No Problems and Can't Give You More. The four covers, especially Bring It On Home and Let's Work Together, are obvious choices and unburdened with insight or imagination. And yet Like A Zombie has a purposeful riff and really moves. Warning Shot has a nice, Lindisfarne-like blue collar edge and Good Sign, a brief foray into Led Zeppelin territory, is a quite beautiful rock ballad. Even the worst songs are properly structured with chord progressions which would be perfectly satisfying, were it not for the relentless overuse of the little finger in that guitar-bashing technique known as hammering-on. (3 stars) Andrew Martin

Image caption: Status Quo: knees, as ever, up.