Wouldn't You Like It?

After achieving success and gaining a certain degree of artistic credibility with Once Upon a Star, the Bay City Rollers continued to write and perform the majority of their material on Wouldn't You Like It. As usual, the biggest hit from the album was a cover tune: "Give a Little Love" is a harmony-driven love song that offsets its sweetness with some surprisingly hard-rocking guitar work from Eric Faulkner. Despite their lack of singles success, the group once again proved that they could produce a worthwhile bunch of album tracks when left to their own devices. Highlights include "I Only Wanna Dance With You," a toe-tapping rock tune that offsets distorted power chords with an exuberant horn section, and the title track is an adrenaline-fuelled slice of power pop worthy of Cheap Trick. The Bay City Rollers also made a surprising foray into the disco sound on this album with "Don't Stop the Music," a lover's lament set to a pulsating beat. The problem with the group's own compositions this time out is that some of them are underwritten: "Love Is..." suffers from some rather trite romance lyrics, and "Derek's End Piece," while a well-recorded instrumental, is too short and underdeveloped to provide a memorable showcase for the group's instrumental chops. Just the same, Wouldn't You Like It remains a pleasant listen and is of definite interest to Bay City Rollers fanatics. Collector's note: Certain editions of this album contain "Saturday Night," the 1975 glam rock smash that made the Bay City Rollers a sensation in the United States. — Donald Guarisco.