Peter Frampton

To quite a few rock fans, Peter Frampton seemingly fell off the face of the earth after his mega-hit Frampton Comes Alive! set. But hardcore Frampton fans know that the singer/guitarist has been touring consistently and issuing albums on a semi-regular basis all along, including 1994s self-titled effort. At various times in his career, Frampton has attempted obvious stabs at mainstream hits, and while the material here is as melodic as ever, it proves to be one of Framptons strongest solo studio efforts in quite some time. Lending a hand is Journey keyboardist/songwriter Jonathan Cain, as well as one of the last-ever appearances on record by Framptons former bandmate in Humble Pie, the late great Steve Marriott, on the album standout, "Out of the Blue." Frampton (who has long been one of rocks most overlooked guitarists) gets to show off his six-string skills on the bluesy album-opening title track, as well as on the rocking instrumental "Off the Hook" and the acoustic ditty "Young Island." If youve lost track of Frampton over the years, this is certainly not a bad album to get reacquainted with him. ~ Greg Prato