Album Review

Mike DeGagne [allmusic.com]

After Michael des Barres' short stint with the band Phoenix, he formed Detective along with former Yes and Badger keyboardist Tony Kaye, and they were signed on to the Swan Song label. Although there's no way of avoiding the similarities between Detective's sound and that of Led Zeppelin's, their debut album evolved as the freshest of the three albums that they released. Des Barres vocals are unmistakably Plant-like, and Michael Monarch's guitar riffs are somewhat refined, yet at times they buzz and chug just like Page's, but there's still an ample amount of enjoyable rock & roll left over to make Detective a worthy album. Tracks like ''Recognition,'' ''Got Enough Love,'' and ''Detective Man'' sound more like their own work, and while Kaye doesn't light up the sky with his keyboard work, he does give Detective an added edge which helps to conceal the arrant comparisons from time to time. On the other hand, songs like ''Nightingale,'' ''Deep Down,'' and ''One More Heartache'' seem to purposely emphasize the resemblances, but they still come off as entertaining hard rock numbers. 1978's It Takes One to Know One is a slightly weaker appendage of Detective, and within the same year, the band released a rather unnecessary live album before they went their separate ways.