Not likely to mess with a proven formula, Fore! is essentially Sports part 2, but the bite is sorely lacking. This, despite another helping of hit singles - five of them in all, including "Hip to Be Square" which immediately defined the yuppie 80's.

One thing about Huey Lewis & The News (along with a lot of other acts) is that people seemed to think they were strictly an 80's phenomenon, when the actual truth was, their origins stretched far back to the early 1970's. The group was essentially the joining of two Bay Area rock bands (Clover and Soundhole) - both of whom have their own convoluted histories, but whatever the case, eventually what became known to us as Huey Lewis & The News released their first album in 1980. Picture This followed in early 1982, and buffeted by the smash single "Do You Believe In Love?", went gold, and established the group as pop stars. The album itself is a mixed bag, wavering between California-friendly soft rock and punchy pop-rock on the fringes of New Wave. The aforementioned "Do You Believe In Love" has more in common with the former genre, while "Workin' For A Livin" is really the only solid indication of the rock-solid sound they got to on Sports.

First off, this is the CBB record with the first massive hit single – the thump-thumping super-funky U.S. tour diatribe “Couldn’t Get It Right” – which honestly comes off a bit like a thicker, smokier version of an early Average White Band hit tune, rendered even more authentic by Cooper’s growls. “Couldn’t Get It Right” is pretty much a matter of record, and certainly the most shining example of the band’s ability to perfect the blues/funk hybrid, but there are other spots worthy of hearing as well. “Rollin’ Home” and “Sav’ry Gravy” are a couple of blues-themed tunes which nearly remind me of the old days! Only they have updated production values and gimmicks. But especially “Gravy” is a gas to hear, showing the group hasn’t lost its’ quirky sense of humor. “Chasing Change” is a nice little funk-rock exercise, too. Nothing too special, but the way the band works in the harmonies with the main groove is pleasant enough. “Berlin Blues” is more on the epic side, feeling a bit like the old prog-blues pieces which Haycock used to go to town on, but it’s a bit too much atmosphere to hold my attention. “Together and Free” and “Mighty Fire” open the album on a mainly positive note, giving you a burst of energy, but otherwise, there is nothing all the special in these two tracks, either. Overall, Gold Plated is a tweener album from a tweener era, which is its’ charm and its’ problem, all at once. And I do not think the one hit song makes much of a difference here.

Despite the somewhat scuzzy album cover this album for CBB shows the band going in a more mainstream direction. To these ears, CBB has toned down the ugliness that marked their earlier works and that is not a good development. Overall, it feels like the band is cutting a cleaned-up take on a Ten Years After record from the same time frame. The opening tracks on both sides, for me, are the best and brightest works, with the title track functioning as a decent anti-war, class commentary piece. “Shake Your Love”, meanwhile, shows off their love for all things Bo Diddley, but it’s fun while it’s on. The rest of the first side veers to well-played but pedestrian blues (“You Make Me Sick”) and/or folk-rock (“Mole on the Dole”). There is a bit more depth to the tracks on the second side, including a throwback with the last song (the weary-sounding “Don’t you Mind People Grinning in Your Face”), but on the whole, there is nothing special about any of this. Weirdly enough – despite the jazzy and fun cover – pretty much this is a disappointing step back from the disturbing depths the previous albums explored. It is, in the very least, listenable on the average.

Moving onto Tightly Knit, we come to (bar none) the most consistent, entertaining, thought-provoking, and head-scratching record in the entire run. I've heard it a ton of times and cannot compute why it was not a hit, but then again, look at the cover, listen to the music, and it's hard not to understand why it would only appeal to a niche audience. A few tracks here sound like they could have been played on radio at the time, especially "Hey Mama" and "Towards the Sun", which compared to earlier tunes was like a searing ray of Beach Boys-infused sunshine. But elsewhere, their dark sense of humor and often dim outlook on life was on full, unadulterated display. The second track from this album, "Shoot Her If She Runs", was simply a vicious diatribe on the end of a relationship, bolstered once again by Haycock's dangerous guitar. The only difference was, this time around, CBB was now concerned with one-upping the likes of Ten Years After and Led Zeppelin, and doing it with aplomb. And what about the instrument al "Who Killed McSwiggin", which sounded as if it came out of a movie car-chase scene? We will never know, of course, but just what was the inspiration for this very interesting section of the record? Meanwhile, Cooper sounded downright murderous on the late-night groove "Bide My Time", while the group's humor shone through on the album closer "That's All". However, as with the previous effort, there is an epic shadow overriding the entire album (including the cover) - "St. Michael's Blues" - which apparently was Pete Haycock's irreverent tribute to Irish blues great Rory Gallagher, by writing a song about his rather colorful socks. However, when you put this fierce, slow-burn blues tune together with the image that is on the cover, it really resonates with the listener - or at least this listener. Unfortunately, Tightly Knit marked the unconscious end of an era, as CBB from here began to make serious in-roads on the American market. 1972's Rich Man was certainly in the same vein as previous albums but not nearly as progressive, even though it sported a very creative cover. After the 1973 FM Live album, which broke CBB on a lower-to-mid level in the U.S., the old blues-rock days quickly became old hat, and then - irony of ironies - when they finally hit commercial pay dirt it was with "Couldn't Get It Right", a harmonious funk/disco song right at odds with the nascent punk movement in the UK. Sad but true.