Soldier

In 1980, every punk rocker in Christendom cited as a key influence, and was the album where he started asking for some payback. Original bassist , ' guitarist of , and former keyboardist all signed on to back on , but the result was hardly the full-frontal rock assault one might have hoped for. Reportedly, conflicts between producers and led to both of them walking out on the project, and is said to have gotten along so poorly with that he stripped most of 's lead guitar from the mix (which would explain why keyboards and acoustic guitar dominate the album). While 1979's showed growing as a lyricist with a number of tough but introspective songs, sounds goofy by comparison, featuring oddball throwaways like (whose lyrics are mostly cribbed from old R&B tunes), and the political "satire" But 's in great voice throughout, and on the few songs where the band fully catches fire (like ), he leaves little doubt that his powers as a performer were still with him. reissued the album in 2000 with two non-essential bonus tracks, ~ Mark Deming