Though B.T.O. has already collected six gold and two platinum albums, you could almost call Street Action a debut. Only two of the outfit’s founders remain among its ranks, and Randy Bachman, B.T.O.’s original leader, is not one of them. Debut or not, however, the present album contains exactly what I’ve come to expect from the group: perfunctory arrangements and vocals, plus a few feeble flirtations with jazz and balladry and a lot of monotonous, drum-happy hard rock.

As for the lyrics, you may have heard the probabilities theory that asserts that a dozen monkeys, locked up with an equal number of typewriters, might eventually produce a Shakespeare play. I’m tempted to try such an experiment to test my own suspicion that those monkeys could deliver B.T.O’s new lyrics in a day or less.