Aftershock [Clear Vinyl]

The Average White Band were down to a trio consisting of singer/bassist Alan Gorrie, guitarist/singer Onnie McIntyre, and saxophonist Roger Ball on Aftershock, the band's first new album in six years. The threesome brought in a lot of session players, however, starting with Alex Ligertwood, who sang on three songs, and Elliot Lewis, who handled keyboards and programming, and including such friends as Chaka Khan and the Ohio Players. Producer John Robie, known for his mechanistic dance tracks, emphasized Average White Band's traditional funk sound without finding an effective way to update it, resulting in an album that was faithful to the band's heyday but did not address its career decline. ~ William Ruhlmann