For the second reconstituted Pie effort Marriott seemed like he was in better physical shape, yet the whole thing ended much like the original run – crashing and burning. However, it is a bit cover reliant, starting from the first track, “All Shook Up”, then later cribbing a couple of songs from Aerosmith associate Richard Supa (“Restless Blood” and “Chip Away the Stone”) which end up sounding far too generic on this record. Furthermore, in an attempt to trade past glories for future gains, they trot out Marriott’s own “Tin Soldier” from way back in the Small Faces’ days! It gets better, or worse, or just plain stranger, depending on your point of view. “Driver” is a really goofy “La Grange” knock off, of all things. What is disappointing is there are some good tracks here – “Teenage Anxiety”, the title track, and especially “Lottie and the Charcoal Queen” are experiences that could have fit in with earlier Pie records, IMHO. There is something in the moods and textures of these three tracks in particular, which makes me wonder if Marriott and Shirley were not thinking about “going for the throat”, but crying out for help instead. I’m pretty sure, during the initial run of the band, neither of those guys would have green-lit such a cover as the one that grossly adorns this one, but something tells they did not have much of a say or there were not many moves left to play. There is also an even worse shot inside the liner notes, of the rest of the group feigning putting Marriott in a choke-hold, but the sad thing is, it’s perfectly indicative of how cheap and rough-shod the whole Humble Pie enterprise really had become.
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