Offering

Kicking off with their raison d'etre "Rock 'n' Roll Party in the Street," Offering proved to be the moment of glory for Florida's Axe. That single remains a great slice of heartland party rock, and the rest of the record ably falls in line. While the quaint "Video Inspiration" berates artificial imagery, "Jennifer" serenades a screen star; but Axe doesn't let such cerebral quandaries get in the way of booty-shaking boogie like the smoking run-through of Montrose's "I Got the Fire" (later covered by Iron Maiden and Rest in Pieces) and the summer-in-the-city riot selection "Burn the City Down." "Holdin' On" falls in the ol' reliable "love 'em and leave 'em" category while "Now or Never" is the kind of blatant Top 40 bid heavy bands used to sneak onto records that resulted in the twilight era of AOR, which backfired into groups attempting to be as intense as their album artwork and spurning the radio. Axe offers an innocent, innocuous, and endearing escape, conjuring muscle cars and convenience stores; thus these sincere soldiers of the '80s delete bins deserve preservation on CD. ~ Whitney Z. Gomes