Go On

Album Review

For their third and final record, Go On, Mr. Mister made few changes. The record contained an uplifting pop/rock vibe that was consistent with their first two efforts. They continued to write songs in the vein of '80s pop bands like Mike & the Mechanics and Genesis, and their lyrics continued to center around the vaguely spiritual themes explored in their hit singles "Broken Wings" and "Kyrie." The only significant change was in record sales. Go On produced one moderately successful single, "Something Real (Inside Me/Inside You)," which lacked the killer hook of their previous hits, though it did include some compelling experiments with exotic keyboard sounds. The greatest strength of the record is its lyrical substance. Songwriters Richard Page, Steve George, Steve Farris, and John Lang are not the most skilled wordsmiths in pop music, but they find some laudable ways to express their favorite themes. "Man of a Thousand Dances" is written from the perspective of a man who is doggedly haunted by a presence that we begin to feel may be divine. "The Tube" blasts couch-potato culture and its illusory perfection: "I want to live in a dream that's neverending/ I want to love all the wasted time I'm spending." Released in 1987, during the height of the materialistic '80s, Go On was an example of a band using its pop culture bully pulpit to suggest that the "greed is good" philosophy was leaving a spiritual vacuum in American culture.