Sometimes change is good -- sometimes. The Models' Out of Mind Out of Sight is not necessarily one of those times. Not that this is a bad album, but the Models were doing fine before the addition of talented bassist/vocalist James Freud and their switch from quirky rock to white funk. Led by Sean Kelly, the Models had a small catalog of intelligent art rock releases like Alpha Bravo Etc, Yes With My Baby, and Local And/Or General before Freud joined for the slightly more commercial Pleasure of Your Company album. From there, they released this platter of muscular funk rock that sounds like a crass attempt to sound just like and sell just as many albums as INXS. Bringing in a talent equal to Kelly's was a smart move, but allowing Freud equal time on record was another issue. In fact, Freud gets top billing above Kelly on this album, only his second with the Models. There are some great songs on display here, including "Stormy Tonight," "Big on Love," "Barbados," and "King of Kings," but when the band kicks into funk mode, the sound is not unlike INXS outtakes. The title track was a huge worldwide hit single for the Models, and they certainly deserved it. They may have gained a whole new group of fans with this album, but they lost a large portion of their core followers and were never able to recover, breaking up just one album later.
© Steve Schnee /TiVo