Lakeside - Shot of Love (1978/2021)

Shot of Love has often been called Lakeside's debut album, but in fact, it was Lakeside's second. In 1977, Lakeside came out with an album that didn't go very far, and it was Shot of Love that made the band well known. Fueling the success of this album (which first came out on Solar and was reissued on CD by The Right Stuff in 1997) was the gutsy funk smoker "It's All the Way Live," and almost as strong are the infectious title song and the classy soul ballads "Given in to Love" and "Visions of My Mind." But as much as Shot has going for it, the album on the whole isn't outstanding. Enjoyable certainly, but not outstanding. A product of Ohio's rich funk scene, Lakeside was so live-oriented that it seemed to hold back a bit in the studio. (It's absolutely insane that Solar never released a double-live Lakeside set.) Shot of Love was the first Lakeside release to boast one of its famous thematic covers; this one depicted the funksters as Robin Hood-type archers, whereas on future covers, they'd be everything from pirates (Fantastic Voyage) to jockeys (Keep on Moving Straight Ahead) to genies (Your Wish Is My Command).