by Jack Rabid, The Big TakeoverMan, is this too bad! Such is Blunstone's frankly enormous talent that he almost -- almost -- pulls this turgid '70s ballad pop/rock out of the fire, like Superman plucking Lois Lane out of the air as she plummets toward certain death. The ex-Zombies star is still so good, and his voice is such a deeply moving pleasure, that one can't actually say this is 100 percent worthless. (The same could be said of the string of equally dire records he's made since One Year, the fantastic solo debut he made with Rod Argent 30 years prior.) For the first two, actually enjoyable songs, the affable Blunstone's magical-menthol pipes soar like the aforementioned superhero. And, reunited with his old Zombies pal Argent after so long, there's a momentary spark to their rekindled collaboration on the opening '70s AOR ballad "Home." Likewise, that awesome larynx belts in between an Argent "Time of the Season" solo in the standout "A Girl Like That," momentarily catching the ear. But recommend any of the rest of the LP? That's risking far too much of a reader's patience, unless one is such an extreme fan that you really would love to hear Blunstone sing the phone book. For the remainder is sadly reminiscent of some excruciatingly dull Michael Bolton or Christopher Cross record, that adult contemporary dross full of glossy-crap synths, tenth-rate soul, bad rock, and trad pop and sambas. It's all so sanitized and flaccid, it feels like drinking a milk-and-water mix. Can't someone point these guys to a young producer who could save them from this abject schlock soft pop? Give talent of this sort a more artful, soulful sound, and have Argent compose less-clichéd material than "Love Can Heal the Pain," and we'll talk.