Born in London, England, Gilder was raised in Vancouver and it was there that he first found fame as lead singer with Sweeney Todd (these days probably best remembered in the UK for later featuring Bryan Adams). With them he had a number one hit with “Roxy Roller” which got to the top of the Canadian charts in 1975 and also won a Juno Award. Due to their success, Nick and guitarist James McCulloch decided to branch out on their own and with his second solo album Nick gained the hit for which he is most known, “Hot Child In The City” which got to the top slot in both Canada and the States. The album, ‘City Nights’, also got into the Top 20 in Canada, but that was 1978 and what we have here is a reissue of his sixth album which was originally released on RCA in 1985.
What we have here is typical Eighties AOR, where everything is covered in schmaltz and sugar, there is way too much keyboards, and not nearly enough guitar. I remember “Hot Child”, and it had way more emotion and passion (in a Roxy Music style) than anything on this album, with the guitar to the fore with a hint of restrained power. But, this album is just too comfortable and while it is good as background music I can never see it being much more than that.
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