Lee Brilleaux invested in the groundbreaking British independent label Stiff when it was being launched in the mid-'70s, so it is sort of appropriate that Dr. Feelgood eventually recorded for the label. The only trouble is, it wasn't in 1976, when Stiff and Feelgood were at their peak; it was in 1986, as Stiff was sliding toward bankruptcy and Feelgood were far from their popular heyday. Dave Robinson, in his infinite wisdom, decided that the way to restore both his label and the band to their proper glories was by refashioning them as radio-ready, R&B-tinged popsters. Of course, that ran contrary to the group's entire career, but they decided to follow his advice, and with producer Will Birch, the group assembled their most eclectic batch of songs ever. Although the smoother sound strips much of Feelgood's gritty essence, Brilleaux remains a varied, entertaining record -- it's a welcome change of pace from the driving rockers, even if it wasn't welcomed by radio as originally planned. [The 2006 CD reissue includes bonus tracks.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

• Format: Vinyl
• Genre: Pop

As described in our Privacy Policy, we collect personal information from your interactions with us and our website, including through cookies and similar technologies. We may also share this personal information with third parties, including advertising partners. We do this in order to show you ads on other websites that are more relevant to your interests and for other reasons outlined in our privacy policy.

Sharing of personal information for targeted advertising based on your interaction on different websites may be considered "sales", "sharing", or "targeted advertising" under certain U.S. state privacy laws. Depending on where you live, you may have the right to opt out of these activities. If you would like to exercise this opt-out right, please follow the instructions below.

If you visit our website with the Global Privacy Control opt-out preference signal enabled, depending on where you are, we will treat this as a request to opt-out of activity that may be considered a “sale” or “sharing” of personal information or other uses that may be considered targeted advertising for the device and browser you used to visit our website.