Lost/Forgotten Album #294

[Jon]

Time for the twenty-third album in the series I thought up all by myself!

This week's selection is the third solo album from John Waite, 1985's Mask Of Smiles. It's the followup to 1984's gold certified No Brakes which was featured as an AOTW four years ago. That album included the #1 single "Missing You" and the album reached #10 on the US charts. 

Mask Of Smiles reached #36 on the US charts and two singles were released, "Every Step Of The Way" which reached #25 and "Welcome To Paradise" which reached #85. The album has not reached any certification. Actually, outside of No Brakes, no other JW solo album has been certified.

It's not a bad album, but I like the followup, Rover's Return, better. That album was trashed by the critics, but what do they know? Fans of The Babies and Waites' other solo offerings should like this one. I can see why this didn't make much of an impact sales-wise since there really isn't anything that "radio friendly" on this album. It takes a few listens to get into the groove of it, but that could just be me.

Allmusic.com says:

John Waite's second solo album, No Brakes, reached the Top Ten, almost entirely on the strength of "Missing You," a truly perfect single. The song deservedly became not just a number one hit, but one of those records that everybody knows, capturing a time yet transcending it to become part of the very fabric of pop culture. Put it this way -- Tina Turner covered it, and nobody noticed. It goes without saying that there isn't a song here as good as "Missing You," but that's not a fair comparison since it was more than enough that the moment of brilliance occurred at all. So, no, Mask of Smiles doesn't have a great should-have-been-a-contender single, yet it's a surprisingly strong, tight little record. After No Brakes, it is the strongest album Waite ever recorded (which may be the reason this concludes with a song called "No Brakes"), and it even had a single -- the insistent "Every Step of the Way" -- that stood out among the rest. No, it wasn't as brilliant as "Missing You," but few singles are. Instead, it was a great piece of mainstream pop craft, and that's really what the whole album is -- professionally crafted mainstream rock that's engaging because of its sense of craft. This is an album that plays with the past -- with the midsection devoted to a "Lust for Life" that isn't a cover but an "Ain't That Peculiar" that is -- yet thoroughly is in the present, with a lot of processed guitars, synchronized rhythms, and synthesizers. This, of course, means that it's thoroughly a product of its time, but there's a real energy to Waite's performances; plus, it's well-made and well-sequenced, so it plays like a hit album that never was.

 

Mask Of Smiles

1. Every Step Of The Way
2. Laydown
3. Welcome To Paradise
4. Lust For Life
5. Aint That Peculiar
6. Just Like Lovers
7. The Choice
8. You're The One
9. No Brakes

Availability: The OOP remastered Mask Of Smiles/Rover's Return version runs around $15 used. The remastered No Brakes/Mask Of Smiles version runs around $13 new. 

 

[RJhog (Admin)]

Bought this on vinyl a couple of years ago for a buck.  Haven't listened to it though.

[Scott]

With the exception of On The Edge, The Babys work was nearly flawless and this guys voice was outstanding!  Union Jacks remains a Top 5 all-time favorable album for me.  So when the band broke up and he started releasing solo albums I was very interested, however when I heard the single "Change" I didn't catch on.  And so he disappeared into the background until "Missing You" came out.  But still I didn't catch on, and then he faded into the background until Bad English came out.  That band I thought had a great chance to be something special, but...  they didn't...

So off to 2011 and Waite releases an obscure album titled "Rough and Tumble", which is really very strong albeit a bit mellow, which he has a tendency to do.

This album is very keyboard heavy but you can hear some Babys bass lines and background vocal styles that help it out.  The closer and title track is really the best song here.  I love his voice when the tempo and distortion are kicked up a notch.  But he seems to be riding a wave of mellower, softer rock.  I liked this a bit but its uneven.  My wife on the otherhand would totally get into this, she loves the guy! 

[RJhog (Admin)]

This one gets off to a decent start.  His vocals, as usual, are stellar.  The song is an obvious stab at a hit (nothing wrong with that), but it must have missed for the most part because I can't remember it at all.  Laydown (stay down) is a lyric that Kiss borrowed somewhere along the way, for either a song on Sonic Boom or Monster, I can't really remember which one.  And then, the obligatory ballad.  Eh, this one's quite cheesy.  The pace picks back up with Lust For Life, but the song falls quite flat.

The cover isn't particularly good.  I don't remember the original at all.  The title is familiar, but not the actual song.  Just Like Lovers is the best song since the opener.  It definitely sounds like 1985.  I like this one.  Obligatory ballad number two. Wow, worse than the first one.  This one deserves a "yuck".  You're The One gets us back to average territory.  The opening riff of No Brakes sounds like it would be a Cheap Trick song.

Surprisingly for me, I didn't care much for this album.  I'm glad I got to hear it, but I'm also glad that I only paid a buck for the vinyl.