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I know it's Robin Trower but not the Trower before this album. For the first time I hear more pop than blues in his songs. Passion peaked at #100 on the album charts, not real good, but a considerable improvement, at least on the charts, than his previous album, Back It Up (#191). On this album Trower had once again changed his lead vocalist, this time it's Dave Pattison who sounds somewhat like James Dewar but without the soulful quality that he possessed.
The album opens with "Caroline" which is one of the most pop sounding songs Trower has recorded in his solo career. There are even background vocals in the song which is unusual for his songs. "Secret Doors" follows, it's more like Trower but not quite like Trower's other rock songs. "If Forever" is a slow tempo song & reminds me of Hendrix when he would do a slow song. "Won't Think About You" speeds up the tempo, sounds a little funky but has some pop in it too which is so unlike Trower. Next comes the title song "Passion", once again more pop than blues. It also has some background vocals. The song reminds me of another group but I can't name them (Toto?). Maybe I shouldn't call so much of this pop but it's certainly more radio-friendly than almost everything that Trower has ever done. "No Time" is really the first song that reminds me of the old Trower. It's blues based, no more than mid-tempo, Trower finally shows off some of his chops reminding us just how good he is. "No Time" is probably the best song on the album, this is the first song on the album where I hear Trower's trademark wah-pedal put to use, something he used to employ on many of his songs. The instrumental "Night" follows & is the next best song on the album. It's a slow tempo song that has some synthesizers in it, another un-Trower-like sound. Trower gives a very tasteful & somewhat restrained lead with a slight hint of fuzz. "Night" is somewhat of a crossbreed of Trower & Pink Floyd, the closeout lead definitely reminds of David Gilmour. "Bad Time" reminds me of the material that Trower recorded on the two albums he had Jack Bruce doing vocals & bass. This song also features multi guitars layered together, this is certainly a Trower trademark of his earlier material. The album closes with "One More Word" which also has un-Trower-like background vocals but there's a good solo in the middle.
This is definitely a different, some might say updated, Trower effort. This is Pattison's first vocal effort for Trower & not his last. This was the second album that had James Bronze on bass. But, unlike the previous album, Back It Up, Bronze has co-written most of the songs with Trower. I'm sure that Trower took the more radio-friendly songs route intentionally. The addition of Pattison & Bronze's co-writing probably had a lot to do with this. It's not a bad Trower album, it's stands well with almost everything else he had done up to this point but it's not the same style. I think most Trower fans will still enjoy this album, just be aware that it IS different.
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