Bad English may have been an artificial construction, as are all supergroups, but it had worked the first time around and there didn't seem to be any reason to think it wouldn't again. Nevertheless,
Backlash was a major disappointment: after scoring three Top 40 hits with its debut, the group managed only a paltry number 42 for this album's sole singles chart entry, "Straight to Your Heart," a
Journey-like arena rock number. With that, the album topped out at number 72 and didn't even go gold, and these boys weren't accustomed to that, so they bailed. Which says something about the band's musical necessity (or lack thereof) that is only confirmed by listening to the soulless, mechanical rock-by-the-numbers that fills this record. ~ William Ruhlmann