"Rock in a Hard Place (Cheshire Cat)" "Jig is Up" & "Push Comes to Shove"

There's not a lot to say about the closing stretch of this album that I haven't already said about the early bits. None of the songs set the world on fire, some are tolerable, and they skirt the line of being embarrassingly dazed and confused. There's nothing wrong withb the title track, which I would hold as one of the three or four best tracks on the album (along with the first two and, if I'm feeling generous, "Joanie's Butterfly") and which are perfectly listenable. This one just lacks a certain "get up and go."



Filler. Probably the worst thing about this album and Ruts is that they really wheeze their way to the finish. This isn't an awful song but it sounds like a demo of already-heard songs like "Bolivian Ragamuffin" or "Bitch's Brew" which weren't remarkable the first time. But okay. You can't crank out ten distinct listenable tunes, so you repeat yourself and it's not awful, just redundant. There's at least some keyboard livening this one up. It's got funk, akin to some of the weaker tracks on Draw the Line. Filler all the same, though.



This one, the album closer, isn't much better, but it has character all its own at least. It's going for a blues bar closing time feel harkening back to Toys in the Attic but as I've already said, they just don't have the spirit to carry through with it and it seems like another half-baked misfire. If I was going to say something in favor of it, it's a cute novelty that pretty much sums up Steven Tyler's state of affair... well-intentioned and creative but just not in control of his faculties. Push was shoving him around. Hurr hurr.