This is the U.S. release of the British LP, STEVE MCQUEEN, with 3 extra tracks not on the British CD.
Personnel: Kevin Armstrong (guitar); Mark Lockheart (saxophone).
Audio Mixers: Mike Shipley; Thomas Dolby.
Unknown Contributor Roles: Neil Conti; Martin McAloon; Paddy McAloon; Wendy Smith.
Known as STEVE MCQUEEN in the band's native England, 1985's TWO WHEELS GOOD is a flat-out masterpiece, a classic guitar pop album with blushes of folk, country, and jazz in its sturdy, attractive songs. Singer/songwriter/guitarist Paddy McAloon, harmony singer Wendy Smith, bassist Martin McAloon, and new drummer Neil Conti build on the strengths of the band's debut, SWOON, by stripping away that album's overactive song structures and hyper-verbose lyrics into intelligent yet restrained vignettes of romantic distress and reverie. Producer Thomas Dolby provides sympathetic settings for McAloon's finely detailed lyrics and often beautiful melodies. Every song is a small classic, but the churning coda of "Faron"; the slinky, jazz-tinged "Hallelujah"; and the starkly beautiful "Goodbye Lucille #1" are particular highlights, with the heartbreaking singles "Appetite" and "When Love Breaks Down" and the samba-tinged "Horsin' Around" close behind. This is one of the U.K.'s finest albums of the '80s.
