Rick Springfield just knows how to craft good songs and good albums - plain and simple. And so much of what he brings to the table is missing from today's music. Good songwriting, emotional lyrics, and power pop/rock and roll like it was meant to be played.

Springfield has taken a few breaks from recording over the years (he's had some personal issues to deal with, as you might recall), but aside from those gaps he has delivered consistent album after consistent album. With the themes and tones of his work varying slightly, but staying true to what he has always done best, there hasn't been a bad one amongst them for the longest time now.

'I Hate Myself' makes for a great single, the emotional guitar-studded ballad 'You & Me' recalls the Gin Blossoms at their finest. 'Gabriel' is a beautifully written ballad as well. As far as the rockers go, he may have his best set of hooks in decades, with 'Wide Awake' and 'Our Ship's Sinking' hitting hard right off the bat.

This is an artist who knows what he does best, does not try to stretch the formula too far, but works like a craftsman. He has this type of music down to a science, and he has never sounded more immediate and enthusiastic as he does now, nearly three and a half decades into his career.