Fireball Zone is an album by the American musician Ric Ocasek, released in 1991. The first single was "Rockaway".
Production
The album was produced by Nile Rodgers and Ric Ocasek. Its title is a reference to Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow. "Over and Over" and "The Way You Look Tonight" are ballads. In contrast to his Cars days, Ocasek recorded the album live, with his band, rather than part by part.
Critical reception
The Ottawa Citizen wrote that "the main thrust of Fireball Zone is to emphasize a funk element within what has always been Ocasek's music style—cold, lean, electronic pop with a tortured bottom end." The Chicago Tribune opined that Fireball Zone "may not be a masterpiece, but it's better than any album by the repetitive Cars, easily one of the most overrated bands of the '80s." The St. Petersburg Times determined that the album finds Ocasek's "rubber-band voice crawling over indistinguishable over-synthesized tunes set to a maddeningly tedious beat."
Tracks
All songs written by Ric Ocasek except where noted.
"Rockaway" "Touch Down Easy" (Ric Ocasek, Rick Nowels) "Come Back" "The Way You Look Tonight" "All We Need Is Love" "Over and Over" "Flowers of Evil" "They Tried" "Keep That Dream" "Balance" "Mister Meaner" "Fireball Zone"
Personnel
Ric Ocasek - vocals, guitar, keyboards
Nile Rodgers - guitar
Larry Mitchell - lead guitar
Dann Huff - guitar on "Balance" and "Mister Meaner" Steve Elson - horns Stan Harrison - horns Matt Collehon - horns Richard Hilton - keyboards Al Berry - bass guitar Larry Aberman - drums Mickey Curry - drums on "Balance" and "Mister Meaner" Tawatha Agee - backing vocals Fonzi Thornton - backing vocals Curtis King Jr. - backing vocals Dennis Collins - backing vocals Katherine Miller - engineer Hiro Ishihara - engineer Dave Schiffman - engineer Justin Luchter - engineer Jon Goldberger - engineer