Friction

So what was new in the Coney Hatch camp come album number three, 1985's Friction? Well, except for new drummer Barry Connors (sporting the biggest, most ridiculous mustache ever!), nothing really. Producer Max Norman was back for a second go-round and once again did the best he could with the talent at hand. But, to put it bluntly, Coney Hatch was pretty much a one-trick pony. In fact, the band had not progressed one iota since its debut, and its three albums were so similar as to be completely interchangeable. Taking very few chances (except for the slightly more prevalent use of keyboards -- woo-hoo!), the songs of Friction offer the same disciplined, polished attack the band had become known for, but without ever hinting at the fire of its live performances. Not-quite-radio-friendly melodic rockers like "Fantasy" and "This Ain't Love" are the norm, but the band does stretch into serious schmaltz territory with "Girl From Last Night's Dream" -- a power ballad buoyed by a pulsing synthesizer background straight out of Rainbow's "Street of Dreams." In the end, much of the band's faithful Canadian audience didn't seem to mind, but gradually decreasing sales would spell the band's demise less than a year later, when Coney Hatch was rudely dropped by its record company. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia|