Steve Miller Band - Italian X Rays

As a kid who didn't love Steve Miller? His Greatest Hits 1974–78 is essential listening. Although full disclosure, I never owned a copy ... but my friends did. By the time I was able to buy my own records I was busy trying to keep up and didn't have a lot of budget to go back in time. Italian X Rays was the follow up to his platinum 1982 release Abracadabra. It was a goofy song too, and while it was an earworm of the highest order and contained one of the worst (but still oddly cool) guitar solos of all time it was a song I still have a love hate relationship with. Steve Miller returned in '84 with Italian X Rays an album what was supposed to be the next crown in his jewel. Turns out this is the album no one wanted. I do recall seeing, or hearing "Shagri-La" and thought it was ... strange.

Of all the Steve Miller albums I've found recently it was a toss up between this one and Abracadabra. I figured this was the one to go with as it seems to the one that marked the end of the band's commercial run, and it also seemed to be the one where Steve was still trying new things and evolving his sound. Whether the proof was in the pudding or not was another matter - but I won't know until I get into the grooves. I'm going to put my lead vest on my lap to protect my genitals, and see what was in Italian X Rays.

The first side starts with a short instrumental "Radio 1" that segues into the title track. Ah, here were go. This is a page right out of the "Abracadabra" playbook. It's actually kind of catchy and while nothing really special was a promising start. Mister Miller sure did seem to like his little instrumentals, and keyboard player Byron Allred was given quite a bit of room to stretch out on the album. I was actually looking forward to hearing "Shangri-La" and while kind of quirky it really never stood out as particularly engaging. "Who Do You Love" is sort of vintage Miller, and was the first of two songs co-written by Tim Davis, who was one of the original members of the Steve Miller Band. One of the songs that did stand out was the the short instrumental "Harmony of the Spheres 1" that paid homage to the "Space Intro" that preceded "Fly Like an Eagle." I'm wondering if this is going to be a grower and not a shower.

Side two follows the structure of side one and opens with another short instrumental by Byron Allred "Radio 2" before "Bongo Bongo" tries it's hardest to summon a sense of urgency with it's looped beats and an electronic stuttering that would be made famous a year later by Max Headroom. It's a weird song that was oddly ambitious and was trying to embrace the more outrageous elements of techno mixed with new wave. It didn't work for me at all but I applaud the effort. Clap, clap clap. To those who thought they'd pegged Steve Miller and put him into a box with the other old '70s dinosaurs were probably discombobulated by this newfangled Steve Miller who didn't know enough to stay in his lane and leave the new toys and experimentation to the kids.

The trend for lifeless techno infused pop continued through the songs and any hopes I had of unearthing a hidden gem was buried under the weight of the pop detritus coming out of the speakers. There were a couple of moments where I paid attention. The glimmer of life found in "Golden Opportunity" was an anomaly by again conjuring the echoes of classic Steve Miller Band. Oddly it wasn't written by Steve, it was written by drummer Gary Mallaber and bassist Kenny Lee Lewis who also played the guitar solo on the song. While not a great song, it really stood out here as it was heads and shoulders above the rest of the songs on the album. It was a short lived respite as the next song was more of the same. 

Then came "One in a Million" this time written by Steve Miller, and it too was an odd duck. A very gentle and classic Steve Miller tune. It was a fine way to close the album before the short instrumental "Harmony of the Spheres 2" brought things to a end.

For the most part a perplexing footnote in the Steve Miller Band catalogue. I never figured it would be quite as lifeless as it turned out to be. I'm generally an optimist and a contrarian. If people think something is bad I'm going to look for a silver lining.

Italian X Rays was a swing and a miss. Although of the techno new wave stuff, the title track was probably the best of the songs in that vein on the album. It really was the bookend to "Abracadabra" and could have been a hit, but a lot had changed in those two short years between albums.

Post Script. I had written most of this more or less in real time as it played through the first time. Generally not the best way to try and digest something new, but it captures my first impression. Now, here's the fun part, the album is indeed a grower. Not to the point where this will ever be construed as one of Steve Miller's best albums, but it does reveal a little more each time I played it, and I still have to give props to the guy for playing with the new toys that were out there rather than just recycling the same song over and over. He was still growing as a musician, and after this one he'd settle into his role as an elder statesmen.