Reviews of the CD:
STREET FEVER

1981: JIM McCLORY

After giving us blasts during "Shots From A Cold Nightmare" and "Escape From Domination, the Moon is now ready to take our temperatures with "Street Fever". It pulls no tricks, because it is free from elaboration, and is marked by genuineness.

The record just itches to find its way to the turntable and once it gets there, Moon Martin makes positive that it does its job ~ of staying there. Lots of good boogie, pick and choose 'em: "Breakout Tonight", "Pushed Around" and "Rollin' In My Rolls". Especially the last track, which is a bold stroke of 1980 Chuck Berry with drums sounding like thunderclaps and a frothy lead guitar to match with the suiting lyrics: "One hand's on the wheel, the other one's on you". What can be said about "Street Fever"? It just isn't sufficient to leave on the premise that it's another good rock album. Moon Martin will take you on a ride that you won't want to forget.

1981: TOM VON MALDER

STREET FEVER, the new album, is a shift for Moon Martin. The Ravens have lost Jude Cole to The Records, although he does sing backing vocals. The loss of Cole's outstanding guitar work must be one of the prime reasons that Martin, who co-produced the new album, decided to do so much over-dubbing. In addition to brothers Dennis Croy on bass and Rick Croy on drums, Martin has added keyboardist Jeff Fargus to the Ravens. The new album features more lead guitar solos, and there is a musical shift to a more rock sound, from the American Sun/Chess roots of the first two albums to the English blues and rock roots. Again, like on the second album, the band is cohesive, yielding a more spontaneous feel (except for the over-dubs).

The song styles are varied, from the fine chug rockers "Five Days Of Fever" and "Breakout Tonight" to the slow bluesier "Love Gone Bad" and "No Dice", both of which have the harmony vocals played up. "No Dice is one of my favorites from the album, although I must say I like all the songs. "Cross Your Fingers" is a drum workout (the drums are pushed forward in the mix on several of the songs) and "Stranded", a lot more like the earlier albums, has a nice guitar melody. Martin's new single is the pop-ish "Signal For Help", and it could be followed up by either "Bad News" or "Whispers", which are both fine is a slightly softer mood.