This came out in 2000 — or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Keeping track of all the Pearl Jam offshoot bands — Temple Of The Dog, Mad Season, Hovercraft, Three Fish, Brad, yadda, yadda, yadda — is almost as tough as keeping up with Wu-Tang Clan releases.
The latest is The Rockfords, featuring PJ guitarist Mike McCready. Like most of the boys’ moonlight gigs, it’s a long way from the post-grunge rock and raw-wound emotion of their day job — a whole decade away, in fact. With the help of some childhood bandmates and a tough ‘n’ tender female vocalist, McCready reconnects with his ’80s rock basement-band days here, serving up a dozen competent, if uninspiring pop-rock numbers fuelled by crunchy guitar licks, radio-ready hooks and singalong choruses straight from the back catalog of Pat Benatar, Missing Persons, The Pretenders and Heart (one track even has Nancy Wilson on vocals). Temple of the Dog and Butterfly, anyone?
