Suzi Quatro – Aggro-Phobia (1976)

posted by record facts

Aggro-Phobia is the fourth studio album by Suzi Quatro, recorded in the Autumn of 1976. It is the only one of her albums to be co-produced by Mickie Most.

The song “Tear Me Apart” reached No. 27 on the UK singles chart in October 1977. Writing for Bomp!, music critic Ken Barnes called it “excellent” and “superior to [her] earlier hits”.

By 1976’s `Aggro-Phobia’, Suzi Quatro’s fourth LP, it was clear that each album would represent an evolution and have its own unique style. Far from the funk of `Your Mamma Won’t Like Me’, `Aggro-Phobia’ was a return to more conventional rock, though with an infusion of country that would become full-blown on her next effort, 1978’s `If You Knew Suzi’. A strong release, to a lesser extent it shares something in common with her second album, `Quatro’, in that it has too many covers of `standards’. But it has a number of excellent high points and it is rocky and interesting enough.

Manager, Mickie Most, produced nine of the ten tracks. At times, this provides an oddly muffled result with strangely dated and bizarre keyboard sounds – and at others, there are definite musical high points that will draw you back to the record.

Of the four covers, the opening interpretation of Elvis’s `Heartbreak Hotel’, is by far the best. Slowed down to a synthesizer-heavy dirge, it is an excellent rendition and a great opener. The others, however, are even more boring than the choices on `Quatro’. A lovely, faithful version of Cockney Rebel’s `Make Me Smile’ must have seemed peculiar at the time, given it had only just been a major hit for its composer the year before. `The Honky Tonk Downstairs’ is unadventurous and forgettable, while the corny choice of `Wake Up Little Susie’ is pretty much a tiresome waste of time.

The only track by Mike Chapman (her usual producer) and Nicky Chinn, who composed all of Quatro’s hit singles, is the gutsy hit, `Tear Me Apart’. So yet again, the highlights are those written by Quatro and her guitarist husband. `Half As Much As Me’ is a bitchy rhythmic rocker and one of the best rock songs she has ever written. The boisterous `What’s It Like to Be Loved’ (produced by Mike Chapman) is almost as good. `Don’t Break My Heart’ is a deceptively simple country tinged ballad, while `Close the Door’ and `American Lady’ are middle of the road tunes that are nicely elevated by both the eccentric synth-heavy production arrangements and Quatro’s under-rated vocals.

 

Tracklist

1. “Heartbreak Hotel” (Elvis Presley, Mae Boren Axton, Tommy Durden) – 3:48
2. “Don’t Break My Heart” (Suzi Quatro, Len Tuckey) – 2:53
3. “Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)” (Steve Harley) – 3:43
4. “What’s It Like to Be Loved” (Quatro, Tuckey) – 3:13
5. “Tear Me Apart” (Mike Chapman, Nicky Chinn) – 2:59
6. “The Honky Tonk Downstairs” (Dallas Frazier) – 3:00
7. “Half as Much as Me” (Quatro, Tuckey) – 4:12
8. “Close the Door” (Quatro, Tuckey) – 3:47
9. “American Lady” (Quatro, Tuckey) – 3:41
10. “Wake Up Little Susie” (Felice Bryant) – 2:49

 

Personnel

• Suzi Quatro – lead vocals, bass guitar, writer
• Len Tuckey – lead guitar, backing vocals, writer
• Dave Neal – drums, backing vocals
• Mike Deacon – keyboards, backing vocals
• Mike Chapman – producer, writer
• Nicky Chinn – writer
• Mickie Most – producer

Companies, etc.

• Pressed By – EMI Records
• Phonographic Copyright (p) – RAK Records Ltd.
• Printed By – Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd.
• Record Company – EMI Records Ltd.
• Recorded At – RAK Records Mobile
• Mixed At – RAK Records Mobile

Notes
Released:  January 1976
Recorded:  Autumn 1976 at the Château Du Regarde, Oise, France with the RAK mobile
Genre:  Rock
Length:  32:05

Label – RAK Records

• Suzi Quatro