Got Any Gum? 1987 Album

Joe Walsh

I expected to hear a decline going by the few mainstream reviews I had read in advance, but from a number of angles this is an uptick from Walsh's previous 80's output, so I am not sure what the critics were thinking. Produced by long time ZZ Top associate Terry Manning (and recorded in Memphis), Got Any Gum strikes a fairly nice balance between arena rock, sparky humor, and more substantial material. Helping out is his old Barnstorm mate Joe Vitale, along with bass player Rick Rosas. "The Radio Song" and "In My Car" were hits on rock radio stations, but the good stuff comes about midway through the record. "Mailbu" is notable thanks to an extended rush of excellent Walsh soloing, followed by "Half the Time", which is marked by lots of traditional Walsh irreverence. The second half standout has to be "No Peace in the Jungle", a very mysterious track which would fit in perfectly back in the Barnstorm days. Deceptively titled to make you think it's a toss-off, this is a surprisingly strong effort and probably deserved more attention than it actually received at the time.