With the departure of guitarist
John Haggerty
,
Naked Raygun
seemed to stumble out of touch, as
Raygun...Naked Raygun
fails to achieve the full potency of their previous few albums. Part of that is due to the lack of clarity in some songs' production, but
Haggerty
's absence also deprives the group of some of its edgy instrumental spark, and the lyrics seem less relevant than before, mixing cliched skateboard anthems with affected cyberpunk posturing. Make no mistake, there are still some good songs to be found here; it's just that the album is nowhere near as consistent as its predecessors. ~ Steve Huey