Alexis - Alexis (1977)

Denver sextet Alexis were formed in 1974 and spent the first two years hitting the circuit in the southwest before finally landing a contract with MCA Records in 1976. The following year, their self-titled debut was released and the band were on the road with major artists like Foreigner, Styx, UFO and Atlanta Rhythm Section. Despite constant touring, Alexis were unable to generate enough interest to sustain themselves and MCA promptly dropped the band. It is not known how long the band continued on before splitting, but vocalist/keyboardist Eddie Ulibarri did resurface as a session player and currently performs with No Nation.

Alexis were a classic example of a band with enough talent to surpass what they actually created. Put simply, the album is marred by the inconsistency of their songwriting. With erratic changes from style to style, "Alexis" never manages to captivate the listener. There are dashes of greatness, especially the edgier material, but much of the album is mired in banality. Shifting between prog, hard rock and easy listening, there are no audible threads pulling these genre hopping songs together. Sounding like Pablo Cruise meets Head East meets Chicago, there's just no real unity in the music on this record. To their credit, the band are quite accomplished at everything they attempt here, but the scattershot writing undermines any real appreciation of the album as a whole. Having said that, I urge downloaders to approach with caution and expect to only find a few tracks with strong appeal. Have at it and enjoy!

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