Two 70’s country rock flavoured solo albums from Rick Roberts who was a member of the Flying Burrito Brothers and Firefall, a more AOR band.

There is a starry supporting cast as well including Don Henley, Jackson Browne and Joe Walsh to name a few.

‘Windmills’ is a bit too mellow for my personal taste and veers too much towards that laidback country sound of the Eagles, not a band I personally like. Having said that the folky ‘Davy Mckie’ and ‘Sail Away’ lift themselves form the rather bland nature of the album.

‘She Is A Song’ goes into a more AOR direction and could be of a Chicago album. ‘Sweet Maria’ gets the old rocking feet going but then the overtly country ballad ‘The Captain’ lets it down.

If you’re a country rock fan a damn fine set of albums and for AOR fans you may like to try it, provided you like a bit of country! Nicely packaged with informative sleeve notes and the original albums’ artwork also featured on the CD sleeve.

***

Review by Jason Ritchie

***** Out of this world | **** Pretty damn fine |
*** OK, approach with caution unless you are a fan |
** Instant bargain bin fodder | * Ugly. Just ugly