Point Blank - Airplay (1979 us, solid hard boogie southern rock, 2018 japan remaster)

Point Blank's second album, the aptly-titled Second Season, disappeared without a trace, which meant that they needed one thing from their third -- airplay -- so they could get some success underneath their belt. Maybe that's why they titled the album Airplay. Even if their motivations weren't so clearly crass and commercial, there's little question that the focus on Airplay results in a quantum leap over their meandering debut. 

Here, it's pretty much polished hard rock boogie, best heard on the opening track "Mean to Your Queenie." The rest of the album is undeniably slick -- something that comes as a shock after the roughshod and scattershot debut -- but that slickness gives the production coherence and helps focus the band. A  late-'70s album-oriented hard rock, this is pretty entertaining since it has a good surface lined with keyboards and hot distorted guitars and they touch on enough different sounds, not just boogie, but power ballads ("Shine On" is particularly good) and Southern-tinged mid-tempo rockers. A step in the right direction, then, and easily one of the best records this forgotten Texas rock band cut. 

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine 

Tracks
1. Mean To Your Queenie (Steve Hardin) - 4:42
2. Two Time Loser - 3:55
3. Shine On (Steve Hardin) - 3:07
4. Penthouse Pauper - 5:39
5. Danger Zone (Steve Hardin) - 4:40
6. Louisiana Leg - 3:48
7. Takin' It Easy - 4:44
8. Thunder And Lightning - 3:16
9. Changed My Mind - 6:05
All songs by Bill Randolp, John O'Daniel, Kim Davis, Peter Gruen, Rusty Burns except where stated

Point Blank
*Rusty Burns - Guitar, Slide Guitar, Vocals
*Kim Davis - Guitar, Vocals
*John O'Daniel - Vocals
*Peter Buzzy Gruen - Drums, Percussion, Vocals
*Bill Randolph - Bass, Vocals
*Steve Hardin - Harmonica, Harp, Keyboards, Percussion, Vocals

1976  Point Blank - Point Blank (2006 issue) 
1977  Point Blank - Second Season (2006 edition) 

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