FIREWORKS - SIGHTSEEING AT NIGHT (1982, MCA)
Marty McCall - vocals, keyboards
Richard Cann - guitars
Dave Kurfman - bass
Louie Weaver - drums

Background
Respected top of the heap Christian AOR, Fireworks began life as a run of the mill Jesus rock band covering songs by BJ Thomas and Amy Grant. Yeah, I can feel your pain and as you might have guessed their 1977 debut was essentially a whole lot of nothing musically; tailor made for coffee houses and youth rallies much like early Petra and Sweet Comfort Band. A big surprise with 1979's 'Shatter The Darkness' and a calculated move to AOR and a sound reminiscent of Toto and Hotel. Unfortunately as if that album never happened the group released a live album for reasons that are unclear, but let's just say that along with the debut, it's best forgotten. Group leader and vocalist Marty McCall, never resting on his laurels signed with MCA and as 'Marty McCall and Fireworks' released a nice west coast album called 'Up!' in 1981, which brings us to this, the final Fireworks album and what many consider their best although I am not so sure...

The Songs
Kicking off with 'I Got News For You', it's clear McCall has left his days of Jesus rock long behind him with a sound more akin to Shooting Star and Balance. 'Don't Let The Sun Go Down' is a quirky number that really doesn't do that much for me, and neither does 'Back In Business' which almost sounds like a re-make of Hall & Oates 'You Make My Dreams' if you close your eyes long enough. The title track and 'Honorable Man' is an obvious nod at Toto and although this album is not as overtly plagiaristic as Steve Camp's 'Fire and Ice' LP when it comes to Toto clones, there's enough on 'Sightseeing At Night' to wonder if any royalties needed to be paid out!

In Summary
Perhaps the problem with Fireworks and in particular this record is the group never really found its own voice, filtering in too many influences and not enough originality. In hindsight, 'Shatter The Darkness' is the band's better album although there again, that album is heavily influenced by Toto so what can you do? Following the end of Fireworks, McCall would go on to form the highly successful Christian pop trio First Call which would fall apart in a highly publicized scandal (nothing to do with McCall) involving a female member of the group caught in a compromising situation. Such is life.

Track Listing:
01 I've Got News For You
02 Because I Care
03 Don't Let The Sun Go Down
04 Back In Business
05 Sightseeing At Night
06 Honorable Man
07 Confrontation
08 Broadway Mary
09 No Strings
10 Incognito

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