Shove It

The first Cross album was really a Roger Taylor solo project in all but name. Taylor played almost all the instruments on Shove It and wrote the music as well, which veered toward a fusion of hard rock and dance influences. Unfortunately, the drum programming sounds very cheap and the whole project sounds quite rushed with thin instrumentation and basic synth lines. While great lyrics were never Taylor's specialty, those featured on the album are quite poor ("VIP's and royalty get treated like they're special see/But the trick is there for all to see/They're people just like you and me"). The high points on the album occur when Taylor's bandmates from Queen show up. Freddie Mercury puts in a moving performance on the best track here, "Heaven for Everyone," while Brian May does a guest solo on the rambunctious "Love Lies Bleeding." [Note: In the U.S. the track order was shuffled and a new song, "Feel the Force," was added. "Heaven for Everyone" was later re-recorded with the same vocal track for the Queen album Made in Heaven.] ~ Geoff Orens