Rock Therapy (Stray Cats album) explained

Rock Therapy is the fourth studio album by American rockabilly band Stray Cats, released in August 1986 by EMI America. It was produced by Stray Cats. The album reached the No. 122 position on the Billboard 200 chart but failed to chart outside the U.S. Singles released from the album include "I'm a Rocker" and "Reckless". Rock Therapy was released as a reunion album after Setzer's solo effort, The Knife Feels Like Justice, and the trio of Phantom, Rocker and Slick self-titled LP.

Critical reception

Writing for People Weekly, critic Mary Shaughnessy contrasted Rock Therapy with the band members' solo albums predating it. Shaughnessy praised the album for bringing "renewed" vigor and exceeding the trio's separate efforts and specifically highlighted Setzer's guitar work as being more inspired than his own solo album. She praised the production (a group effort) of this album over the previous Stray Cats albums and even against the then-current trend of "high-tech mush" in pop music.^[1] The Sun-Sentinels Kevin Davis wrote in his review that Rock Therapy is a "fun" album filled with "upbeat" songs.^[2] On the other hand, the Ottawa Citizens Evelyn Erskine found that compared to the band's previous work, the album "takes a more serious approach than usual to rockabilly."^[3] Greg Quill of the Toronto Star thought it was "probably the best Stray Cats album to date," despite being "recorded spontaneously and almost on a whim."^[4] In his review of the 2008 reissue of the album, The News-Presss Mark Marymont thought it was "all great fun and almost the equal of [the band's] first two best-sellers."^[5]

Track listing

1. "Rock Therapy" (Alice Bayer, Glen Moore, Milton Subotsky)
2. "Reckless" (Brian Setzer)
3. "Race with the Devil" (Gene Vincent, Sheriff Tex Davis)
4. "Looking for Someone To Love" (Buddy Holly, Norman Petty)
5. "I Wanna Cry" (Slim Jim Phantom, Lee Rocker)
6. "I'm a Rocker" (Setzer, Slim Jim Phantom, Lee Rocker)
7. "Beautiful Delilah" (Chuck Berry)
8. "One Hand Loose" (Charlie Feathers, Jerry Huffman, Joe Chastain)
9. "Broken Man" (Setzer, Slim Jim Phantom, Lee Rocker)
10. "Change of Heart" (Setzer, Slim Jim Phantom, Lee Rocker)

Personnel

• Brian Setzer - guitar, vocals
• Lee Rocker - bass, vocals
• Slim Jim Phantom - drums
• Earl Slick - guitar on "I Wanna Cry"
• Tommy Byrnes - guitar^[6]

Notes and References

1. Shaughnessy . Mary . November 10, 1986 . People Picks and Pans . People Weekly . 26 . 19 . 32–33 . Seattle Public Library Periodical Archives.
2. Web site: Davis. Kevin. October 5, 1986. Rock Stray Cats pay tribute. Sun-Sentinel. 3F. October 3, 2022. ProQuest.
3. Web site: Rock. Erskine. Evelyn. Ottawa Citizen. October 17, 1986. D5. October 3, 2022. ProQuest.
4. Web site: POP Reviews. Greg. Quill. Toronto Star. October 17, 1986. D10. October 3, 2022. ProQuest.
5. Web site: Reissue. Marymont. Mark. The News-Press. April 30, 2008. G.2. October 3, 2022. ProQuest.
6. Book: McKittrick, Christopher. October 1, 2024 . Howling to the Moonlight on a Hot Summer's Night: The Tale of the Stray Cats . Essex, Connecticut . Backbeat Books . 140 . 978-1493074822.