Lita Ford - Lita (1988)

Lita is the third studio album from British-born ex-Runaways guitarist Lita Ford and was her most successful reaching platinum status in the US and spawning a clutch of singles which troubled the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. The album was produced by 1970s hit songwriter Mike Chapman (responsible for Sweet’s early hits along with writing partner Nicky Chinn) and featured writing credits for a whole host of rock notables, and a duet with Ozzy which became the album’s biggest chart hit.

Back To The Cave opens the album and reminds me of Steve Miller’s Abracadabra . . . but with a latter period Carlos Santana on guitar: but maybe that’s just me! At any rate, it’s a powerful mid-tempo power-rock track with some fine guitar work from Ms Ford and is one of the strongest tracks on the album.

If I mentioned that the next track was co-written with Lemmy, how would you imagine it sounded? Yes, you’re right – opens with an Overkill-style double bass drum riff and then the track kicks-in proper and is a fast paced chugger of a riff with loud drums and Ford shouting the lyrics . . . in fact, apart from the Hammond accompaniment, this is erring on the side of Girlschool – which is not necessarily a bad thing! The track drops to half-time for the guitar solo (although Myron Grombacher rather kills it with over the top pounding drum fills) and then normal service is resumed.

The intro to Blueberry is a real shredding metal riff which you would imagine would lead into a rapid-fire metal track but in actual fact drifts into a mid-tempo heavily keyboard-orchestrated track with Ford’s guitar rather relegated to a backing instrument . . . which is a shame . . . but it’s not a bad track overall and Ford turns in a good solo once more – she’d certainly been practicing since her days in The Runaways!

Next-up is a very catchy 80’s ‘anthem’: Kiss Me Deadly. I remember this track getting a fair amount of airplay back in the day and it’s very formulaic 80’s fodder with a bouncy beat and generally ‘happy’ feel to it with a catchy chorus . . . not bad, just a bit cheesy. It’s also not written by Ford but Mike who, along with Mike Chapman, I assume were brought in to ensure a bit of commerciality was added to proceedings to temper Ford’s penchant for more ballsy rockers.

Co-written with Motley Cru’s Nikki Sixx, Falling In And Out Of Love could have been a real stomper of a track . . . and it is, almost but I feel Mike Chapman struck on this one – adding rather twee keyboards to an otherwise powerful ballad and mixing the guitar so far back as to be relatively inaudible: surely Nikki Sixx wouldn’t have approved of such a mix, or Ford for that matter? As the track progresses, however, the guitar does put in the odd appearance but those keyboards are just naff!

Fatal Passion is a powerful rock track and more suited to Ford’s vocals and guitar style than the previous offering – the mix has more power too with the track being co-written by Ford and Dave Ezrin and Punky Peru of Witch.

Uner The Gun opens with an electronic percussion pattern into which drifts keyboards and then Ford comes-in with a real powerful vocal on a very strong slow rocker (albeit with a horrible drum sound) featuring some of Ford’s most outstanding vocals and some nice guitar flourishes throughout. This is the only track on the album credited as being written solely by Ford and is a standout track.

Broken Dreams is a mellow number, again co-written by Ezrin, but stands-up well as a power-rock number however, the following track Close My Eyes Forever was the biggest hit from this album and, in my humble opinion, woeful! With song writing and vocal duties split between Ford and OZzy Osbourne you would expect this to be one heavy riff-fest. Unfortunately, do you recall Ozzy’s duet with Kelly Osbourne on Changes? Enough said!

On aggregate, this is a good album and shows a real depth of maturity in both playing, singing and song writing from Ford when compared to her youthful musings with The Runaways. However, this has to be balanced against Mike ‘bubblegum pop’ Chapman’s production – which doesn’t fit Ford at all – and the odd 80’s formula power-rock track that is crow barred in 2 – 3 times for commercial purposes. That said, it’s well-worth a listen and I get the distinct impression that none of my misgivings about this album were down to Ford herself, but more to do with RCA which is a pity.

• Lita Ford – Guitar/Vocals
• Don Nossov – Bass
• David Ezrin – Keyboards
• Craig Krampf – Guitar
• Myron Grombacher – Drums