The Best of Cock Robin in Bloomington, MN

There was no reason why
Cock Robin
shouldn't have been as big as anyone else around at the time. This collection showed a band that was bright, bubbly, and buoyant.
"Thought You Were on My Side"
oozed all the charm of a band in the studio for the first time. But it was the moody -- and, to a degree, menacing --
"When Your Heart Is Weak"
that delivered their only hit Stateside. Certainly, things were not what they seemed. Under the chic shine of
Steve Hillage
's production lay a group led by intellectual
Peter Kingsbery
(just read the sleeve notes: "This, our first album, is for those who've helped birth this backwards child"). However, they used enough humor in their poetic license to do well in Europe.
Outside America, the pristine quality of
"The Promise You Made"
proved massive in France, number one in Holland, and also scored in Germany, Portugal, and even (albeit lower down the chart) the U.K. Most of the record was bathed in a sea of summer sound.
"Because It Keeps on Working"
and
"Born With Teeth"
have an almost
Meat Loaf
epic album feel, though both weigh in at around four minutes.
"Once We Might Have Known"
is semi-
Go West
. There's also a
Gloria Estefan
homage titled
"Just When You're Having Fun."
"More Than Willing,"
like
"Promise,"
is simply stunning, but the song remained an album cut. In addition to
"Weak,"
the album possessed another darker moment in its concluder
"A Little Innocence."
~ Kelvin Hayes