By 1985,
pop-metal had become one of the dominate genres in
pop music thanks to the success of groups like
Quiet Riot and
Ratt. Although
Kix's material remained more ambitious than the
pop-metal groups they were lumped in with, the group went for a more
pop-metal sound on
Midnight Dynamite by using
Beau Hill (best known for his work with
Ratt and
Warrant) as their producer. As a result, songs like the title track and
"Layin' Rubber" have the slick, conventional sound expected of
pop-metal recordings but manage to rise above the genre's trend with surprising hooks like the unexpectedly lovely harmonies that build up to the chorus in
"Midnight Dynamite" and the
bubblegum chants that are woven in
"Layin' Rubber." The hooks in the songs don't leap out of the speakers this time out the way they did on
Kix or
Cool Kids, but the group makes up for this by testing out all sorts of new sounds and genres:
"Walkin' Away" is a plaintive ballad that is built on synthesizers instead of guitars, and the surprisingly
funky "Cold Shower" flirts with
rap in its vocal melody. Meanwhile, songs like
"Red Hot (Black and Blue)" and
"Lie Like a Rug" keep up the album's
hard rock quotient and balance their solid guitar riffs with enough
pop harmonies and hooks to keep things interesting. Ultimately,
Midnight Dynamite lacks the coherence and sonic ambition that marked their first two albums but still remains a strong, likeable collection of
pop/rock tunes. ~ Donald A. Guarisco
