Detective in Bloomington, MN

After
Michael des Barres
' short stint with the band
Phoenix
, he formed
Detective
along with former
Yes
and
Badger
keyboardist
Tony Kaye
, and they were signed on to the
Swan Song
label. Although there's no way of avoiding the similarities between
's sound and that of
Led Zeppelin
's, their debut album evolved as the freshest of the three albums that they released.
Des Barres
vocals are unmistakably
Plant
-like, and
Michael Monarch
's guitar riffs are somewhat refined, yet at times they buzz and chug just like
Page
's, but there's still an ample amount of enjoyable
rock & roll
left over to make
a worthy album. Tracks like
"Recognition,"
"Got Enough Love,"
"Detective Man"
sound more like their own work, and while
Kaye
doesn't light up the sky with his keyboard work, he does give
an added edge which helps to conceal the arrant comparisons from time to time. On the other hand, songs like
"Nightingale,"
"Deep Down,"
"One More Heartache"
seem to purposely emphasize the resemblances, but they still come off as entertaining
hard rock
numbers. 1978's
It Takes One to Know One
is a slightly weaker appendage of
, and within the same year, the band released a rather unnecessary live album before they went their separate ways. ~ Mike DeGagne