Silent Partners

For their second release, the brothers Bolland ditched the weightiness of the concept album and lightened things up for an album of straight-head new wave pop. Still relying on their amazing sense of production and songwriting chops (which would later be employed by everyone from Falco to Samantha Fox), the Bollands whip through an album of power pop gems like "Images" and "Blind Ambition," while "Night of the Shooting Stars" and "Ten American Girls" seem ready-made for dance mixes. Again, it is frustrating that commercial success eluded the Bollands ("See You Again" and "Imagination" are both radio friendly and don't carry the heavy baggage of their rock operatic debut). That being said, the album overall lacks the focus and intensity of The Domino Theory, which sometimes leaves it floundering aimlessly in its own hyper-production. It would not be until their work on "Falco 3" (which, incidentally, also happens to be "Bolland 3") that Rob and Ferdi would successfully marry the ambitiousness of "The Domino Theory" with the hit singles formula they strove for on this, their sophomore set. Still a good album, but not the follow-up that The Domino Theory truly deserved.