Justly revered for his muscular drumming with Free and Bad Company, Simon Kirke has always shown a softer side when he makes his sporadic visits to the solo album. His third does include a version of Bad Co’s Feel Like Making Love, but it’s far more considered than the show-stopping original. The orchestrated country folk of Maria and the romantic Melting On Madison suggest someone who is happy with his lot.
The delicately MOR Wind And The Rain is effective enough, so don’t go looking for stadium rock here because you won’t find it. Kirke enters confessional territory on the therapeutic Into The Light and Trouble Road, the most drum heavy moments here, but he’s soon back consorting with nature on Friends In The Woods, a song about a hedgehog and a mole. Kirke may be an Englishman in New York these days but the old roots still exert a hold.
