Beat Hotel

Beat Hotel is, in a sense, the Bongos' only "real" album; Drums Along the Hudson, its predecessor, was a compilation of previously released single and EP tracks. As such, Beat Hotel is a more unified effort than the earlier LP, but lacks the urgent immediacy that all those singles tracks gave it. Richard Barone makes extensive use of a guitar synthesizer to fill out the band's sound, although it's still the normal guitar licks that dominate the music. Barone also sings engagingly, filling his songs with catchy hooks, even though on the lyric sheet it's hard to figure out what he's talking about. It's a shame that Beat Hotel, which seems like a transitional album, proved to be the Bongos' final effort -- they remain a promising group that never had a chance to reach their potential. ~ William Ruhlmann