Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Wetton, John
Label: Import
Release: 1980
Runtime: 41:27
Rating: 3/5
Cult guitarist and singer John Kenneth Wetton, one of the central figures of the progressive rock movement, left his mark as a kind of nomad on the legacies of acts like Mogul Thrash, Family, Renaissance, King Crimson, Uriah Heep, Roxy Music/Bryan Ferry, UK, Wishbone Ash, Asia, Phenomena and Quango. He started his solo path right after UK fell apart, when he was already being pulled pretty clearly away from prog waters and was warming more and more to the ‘newborn’ melodic rock/AOR. He helped shape that sound in many ways even before Asia was born, on his solo debut »Caught In the Crossfire«, which was made before John’s short Wishbone Ash stint, even though it didn’t (yet) bring him the big commercial success that followed two years later.
He would later make quite a few better solo albums than this rather easygoing, radio-friendly effort, led by the excellent »Battle Lines« (1994), but »Caught In the Crossfire« definitely has some special charms that once again reveal Mr. Wetton as a superb instrumentalist, singer and songwriter, and also as a not-so-great writer of (mostly love) lyrics. Those are exactly the weakest side of »Caught In the Crossfire«, packed with worn-out love metaphors that, sadly, he wouldn’t hold back on later in his solo career either. Wetton was simply used to having others write the words for him all through the seventies, like Richard Palmer-James, his old buddy from the King Crimson days.
Stylistically, »Caught In the Crossfire« couldn’t be further from progressive rock, which once again shows why UK unceremoniously broke up at the end of the seventies: Wetton suddenly wanted to conquer the airwaves. The music here is nowhere near as sophisticated, production-polished and pompous a form of arena rock/AOR as what Wetton started making two years later with Asia, but on the other hand most of the compositions still satisfy anyone who doesn’t shy away from melodic (pop) rock with a touch of bluesy influence.
Maestro Wetton surrounded himself on »Caught In the Crossfire« with nothing but top-notch musicians. Besides Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera, with whom he later worked in the project Wetton-Manzanera, and drummer Simon Kirke (Free, Bad Company), the one who stands out most is definitely the legendary Jethro Tull guitarist Martin Barre. His involvement is a real rarity, since Barre hardly worked with any other artist outside the Jethro Tull family in his long career. The two guitar masters’ totally different, instantly recognizable styles are perhaps the biggest draw and oddity of »Caught In the Crossfire«.
Barre shines on the punchier, blues-seasoned tracks, where he’s convincingly backed by Kirke’s determined drum machinery, while the softer parts, as you’d expect, are marked by Manzanera’s guitar. Neither Barre nor Manzanera really ‘stretches out’ much on »Caught In the Crossfire«, though, leaving a lot of their potential completely untapped. Malcolm Duncan on saxophone adds nicely to these big names from the worlds of prog rock and blues rock. Wetton also played all the keyboards on the album himself, and they’re, fittingly, pretty average, and in the hands of a professional keyboardist they’d surely have improved the structure of the individual compositions noticeably.
The opening pop rocker »Turn On the Radio«, which from its title was clearly made to go after the airwaves, is a pretty average effort, with the guitar pushed completely into the background of the production while the central role goes to Wetton’s singing and the rattling bass. The melodic, inviting vocal harmonies in the chorus are the only thing that leaves a somewhat deeper impression. The much punchier »Baby Come Back« is another fairly generic melodic rock piece, but with its grabby chorus, utterly daft love lyrics, grabby guitar melody and thickened bass lines, it still set the standard for many later highlights of John’s solo career. »When Will You Realise«, despite its cheerful, upbeat melody and tasteful guitar improvisations, has a pretty ‘annoying’ chorus, so it’s forgotten rather quickly.
»Cold Is The Night« is a genuine prototype of the love power ballad, the kind Wetton adored and wrote through most of his rich career, and on it his admirable vocal pathos shines with full fire. The rather bluesy, melancholic »Paper Talk«, where Mr. Barre leaves a strong guitar mark, is arrangement-wise one of the most inspired moments of »Caught In the Crossfire«. You can clearly hear how Wetton had by then already mastered building hypnotic vocal harmonies down to the last detail, which he polished to near perfection in Asia. »Get Away« is a spirited melodic rocker with hefty guitar phrases and a pretty generic, nondescript chorus, although the vocal harmonies are once again sung at a top level.
With its bluesy guitar passages, mischievous saxophone and ‘cocky’ chorus, which vividly reflects the dawn of the ‘MTV era’, when a ‘pretty’ look (for male and female performers alike) was becoming more and more important, the title track is another bright spot on Wetton’s debut, provided you swear by AOR, of course. The hardest-hitting song on »Caught In the Crossfire« is undoubtedly »Get What You Want«, where Barre thrills with dark, sharp guitar phrases, and there’s even a short guitar improvisation that comes off as the most experimental moment on the whole album.
»I’ll Be There« is yet another generic AOR effort with totally empty lyrics that doesn’t stand out in any particular way, except that all the instrumentalists do their jobs decently and Wetton’s vocal performance is once again at the expected high level. The closing power ballad »Woman«, another prototype of a typical John solo ballad, has gorgeous vocal harmonies and surprisingly good keyboard arrangements, considering they were played by a bassist/singer who was sly as a fox.
»Caught In the Crossfire« was Wetton’s first up-close, open flirtation with AOR, not counting a few ‘hybrid’ experiments from the UK era, and it will still thrill every fan of his solo career today, while the average prog rock fan will just wave a hand while listening and write the whole thing off as the start of the ‘pop rock’ phase of one of the biggest bass guitar/vocal legends of their beloved genre.
Lineup
John Wetton – vocals, bass guitar, guitar, keyboards
Martin Barre – guitar
Phil Manzanera – guitar
Simon Kirke – drums
Malcolm Duncan – saxophone
Production
John Wetton
Track list
1. Turn on the radio (3:47)
2. Baby come back (3:24)
3. When will you realise (4:34)
4. Cold is the night (5:22)
5. Papertalk (4:00)
6. Get away (4:30)
7. Caught in the crossfire (5:03)
8. Get what you want (3:18)
9. I’ll be there (3:33)
10. Woman (4:33)
