Tracks On Wax 4

by Stephen Thomas ErlewineTracks on Wax 4 is the first official Rockpile collaboration and its hard-driving, unified sounds make it one of Dave Edmunds' very best records. Like Get It, Tracks on Wax 4 relies primarily on originals and contemporary pub rock songs, leaving behind the classic oldies; the older songs on the record are obscurities like Chuck Berry's "It's My Own Business" and Jan & Dean's "Thread Your Needle." Built on such fine songs as the rockabilly tinged "Trouble Boys," the Everly-esque "Never Been in Love," "Television," "Readers Wives," and "Deborah," Tracks on Wax 4 is a tight, snappy rock & roll record that is only derailed by a version of Nick Lowe's classic "Heart of the City," where Lowe's original vocal is stripped away and replaced by a new take by Edmunds. Only then does the record recall Edmunds' perfectionist nature.