Double Fun

Robert Palmer's grin on the cover of Double Fun is reflected throughout this light, feel-good, and funky album, recorded while he was living the life of an Island-loving expatriate with style and money to burn. With its laid-back sway, slap-and-pop bassline, steel drum melody, and lyrics that are really saying something, the big hit "Every Kinda People" is quintessential pre-Power Station Palmer, even if -- and considering his success with covers, maybe especially because -- he didn't write it. The easy and uplifting "Best of Both Worlds" is a great example of how slick can be an entirely positive thing and the closing rocker, "You're Gonna Get What's Coming," predicts his breakthrough American hit, "Bad Case of Loving You," with same combination of lust and guitar grit, just at a slower tempo. "Love Can Run Faster" -- which is "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game" for the sandals set -- and "Come Over" ("You tease my monkey/You make my knees feel funky") also deserve special mention. If it wasn't for "Where Can It Go?" (pure, unashamed syrup) and the slinky cover "You Really Got Me" (clever for the first minute, trying afterward), this would rank among the singer's best. Even with its faults, fans of Palmer's more Caribbean-flavored work will find plenty to love here.