What can I say about this, Glaswegian James Grant's first album with his new band Love and Money, from 1986, after the break up of his earlier band Friends Again. The man has a talent for songwriting and guitar playing that beggars belief. It's also hard to believe that this album was recorded over 20 years ago. The tunes haven't dated in my opinion. I saw them at Newcastle Upon Tyne Polytechnic circa 1988/9 and they were just as good live.

On this debut album we get 4 superb singles, the disco-funk of "Candybar Express", pure pop of "Dear John", absolutely amazing liquid guitar of "River of People" and the somewhere-in-the-middle-of them-all "Love and Money". They alone are worth the purchase price, being all 4 or 5/5* material. Track down also the even better lengthy 12" vinyl mixes (apart from "Dear John" which unfortunately didn't benefit from one). They're like porn for music lovers.

The remaining 5 tracks are only a little less impressive, all rating 4/5*. The only… more »

What can I say about this, Glaswegian James Grant's first album with his new band Love and Money, from 1986, after the break up of his earlier band Friends Again. The man has a talent for songwriting and guitar playing that beggars belief. It's also hard to believe that this album was recorded over 20 years ago. The tunes haven't dated in my opinion. I saw them at Newcastle Upon Tyne Polytechnic circa 1988/9 and they were just as good live.

On this debut album we get 4 superb singles, the disco-funk of "Candybar Express", pure pop of "Dear John", absolutely amazing liquid guitar of "River of People" and the somewhere-in-the-middle-of them-all "Love and Money". They alone are worth the purchase price, being all 4 or 5/5* material. Track down also the even better lengthy 12" vinyl mixes (apart from "Dear John" which unfortunately didn't benefit from one). They're like porn for music lovers.

The remaining 5 tracks are only a little less impressive, all rating 4/5*. The only criticism of this album is its stingy 9 tracks and length. It's a very good starting point for anyone getting into the band, unless you only intend or want to buy one album, in which case go for the Best Of compilation which is soft, strong and very, very long.