A solid live act, Target performed all over the Southern states during the day, but on this set of songs, they sound remarkably like the Pat Travers Band.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Target
ALBUM: In Range
LABEL: Escape Music
SERIAL: ESM 309
YEAR: 2017
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Jimi Jamison – vocals * Tommy Cathey – bass, vocals * Paul Cannon – guitar * Buddy Davis – guitar * Bill Marshall – drums * Gary Topper – saxophone (#2)
TRACK LISTING: 01 Tightwire * 02 Love Magician * 03 Too Much Good Lovin’ * 04 Hold Tight * 05 Taxman * 06 Means That Much * 07 Come On * 08 A Place Called Hot * 09 Don’t You Think Its Time * 10 Echo Tango (demo) bonus track
RATING: 90/100
Background
Well, this came as a surprise during 2017. The third and ‘missing’ album from Memphis rockers Target. It was never released at the time (1979), but the songs indicate that Target were well and truly progressing.
A solid live act, Target performed all over the Southern states during the day, but on this set of songs, they sound remarkably like the Pat Travers Band, but without the bluesy overtones that Pat and his crew pursued.
The Songs
You can hear this comparison on songs like ‘Tightwire’ and the impressive ‘Too Much Good Lovin’. ‘Hold Tight’ shuffles into 70’s era Bad Company territory, while ‘Taxman’ is just good old fashioned 70’s good-time rock.
My favourite is the boogie-down rock of ‘Come On’, which could be Point Blank on another day. They just don’t make rock music like this these days.
A Place Called Hot’ has a Southern swagger to it, like early Doc Holliday fused with fellow Memphis rockers Creed for instance. Still interested? You should be!
In Summary
This is the sort of record that will appeal to the Glory Daze regulars, and its a bonus really, after their first two records were reissued by Rock Candy Records recently. The songs here are fantastic, from an era before studio trickery prevailed.
The band existed right up to 1982, before Jamison hooked up with a bunch of Swiss musicians in 1983 going under the banner of Cobra.
As can be expected, the audio quality is kinda reasonable, but is not HD by any means, but well done to JK Northrup for lending some digital magic to the process. For further reading, click on the Target tag below.
Target on Video
Click to go to YTM album page.
