Desmond Child & Rouge

by Alex HendersonIf the goal of this self-titled debut album by Desmond Child & Rouge was to give the listener a bittersweet tour of New York's mean streets, they did a marvelous job. This album paints a vivid picture of urban life, and the group brilliantly captures the highs and lows of life in the big city. Both musically and lyrically, this album is a gem. The group's soul-influenced style of pop/rock is quite distinctive, and the characters in Child's songs are so New York inspired that some reviewers compared him to Billy Joel. But Child tends to have more of an inner-city influence -- on treasures like "Westside Pow Wow" and "City in Heat" he speaks of gang members and graffiti artists and describes inner-city life with the type of insights you would expect from a hip-hopper. "Otti" is a poignant ode to a 19-year-old street kid who is a master of skateboarding but unsuccessful in romance, while "The Fight" (which Child co-wrote with David Landau and Kiss' Paul Stanley) takes a look at the gritty world of boxing. And through it all, Child's affection for New York comes through -- even though he isn't blind to the city's faults. Had justice prevailed, this LP would have been a major hit. But it seemed like Desmond Child & Rouge was simply too creative, too visionary for its own good.