No Muss...No Fuss

Background

Between 1980-84 Iris had released four studio albums, three of which were released through MCA Records. A string of moderate and minor hit singles followed, including the two Top 30 tracks "Ah! Leah!" (1981) and "My Girl" (1982). However the studio albums and certain singles did not meet the commercial success expected from the label. In 1984 Iris and his band The Cruisers left the label, and signed with the small independent label HME Records. In the aftermath of mainstream indifference and legal tangles with MCA, Iris released No Muss...No Fuss in 1985 on the HME label. Although it wasn't a major commercial success it did peak at #115 on the Billboard 200, which was a higher charting than Iris' previous two albums.

The lead single from the album was "Injured in the Game of Love", which reached #91 on the Billboard Hot 100. It fared better on the Mainstream Rock chart, reaching #28. Backed by the album track "I Want You Back", it was Iris' last single to make an appearance on the American charts, as was the album. A second single was also released in America, but as a promotional release only; "State of the Heart". The album was recorded at Beachwood Studios, in Beachwood, Ohio, and was mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound.

Iris would not record any release any further material until the 1992 album Out of the Blue. Just prior to the release of No Muss...No Fuss, the band split into different directions. Drummer Kevin Valentine and bassist Albritton McClain left to join a new group, The Innocent, and were replaced by Scott Alan Williamson on bass and Tommy Rich on drums. That same year, keyboardist Mark Avsec released a solo project under the moniker Cellarful of Noise. Even after releasing the eponymous debut album that same year, Avsec and Iris maintained that Donnie Iris and the Cruisers was still their main focus, and that they wanted to continue to release new albums with the band and its new line-up. The band returned to the studio in 1986 and recorded a new album titled Cruise Control; however, a lawsuit with the band's former label MCA resulted in the shelving of that album pending the resolution of the lawsuit. It has still not been released as of 2013. Also around this time, the HME label went out of business, leaving Iris as an unsigned act. Iris then partnered with Avsec on the second Cellarful of Noise album, Magnificent Obsession, which was released in 1988. The album produced a moderately successful single, "Samantha (What You Gonna Do)." In the early 1990s, Iris set up a mortgage company, SIMCorp, as a side business from the band, and this still operates today.

In a 2008 interview with Iris, he revealed "We had run into legal troubles with MCA. We ended up going to court over it. Actually, nothing really came of it, nobody won or lost anything, but we did lose time because I couldn't go into the studio to do any recording until that one was settled. Once it was done we were able to start recording again. That took a couple of years."

Release

The album was released in America only via HME Records, on vinyl and cassette. It soon became out-of-print, and was later digitally remastered and re-issued on CD via Primary Recordings with an alternate cover on March 20, 1999. However this was a limited CD run, released through Iris' website, and soon became a collector's item. It was digitally remastered for CD by Francisco Rodriguez at Digital Dynamics Audio Inc.

In 1992 Iris and his band released the album Out of the Blue via the Seathru label, which contained seven previously released tracks and six new songs. Of the seven previously released tracks, four were taken from the No Muss...No Fuss album; "Injured in the Game of Love", "10th Street", "Ridin' Thunder" and "I Want You Back". The appearance of these tracks were partly as Iris revealed in a 1992 interview that MCA wanted too much money to license many of the band's other songs.

Track listing

1. "Injured in the Game of Love" (Avsec, Iris) – 3:26
2. "10th Street" (Avsec, Iris) – 3:42
3. "Ridin' Thunder" (Avsec, Iris) – 3:58
4. "You're My Serenity" (Avsec, Iris) – 3:38
5. "L.O.V.E." (Avsec, Iris) – 3:13
6. "Follow That Car" (Avsec, Iris) – 3:54
7. "Don't Cry Baby" (Gary Jones) – 3:25
8. "State of the Heart" (Avsec, Iris) – 3:57
9. "Headed for a Breakdown" (Avsec, Iris) – 3:22
10. "I Want You Back" (Avsec, Iris) – 3:34

Critical reception

Bret Adams of Allmusic stated "...It's a killer record full of absurdly high-quality arena rock and power pop. Iris' stunning vocals and the clean, melodic instrumental hooks of the band remain amazingly consistent. It starts off with three absolute home runs: "Injured in the Game of Love", the insanely catchy, aggressively nostalgic "10th Street" and the rumbling "Ridin' Thunder". Iris' command of '60s-style pop is evident on "You're My Serenity." "L.O.V.E." is funk/pop bordering on disco. Jubilant blasts of horns propel the relentless drive of "Follow That Car." The smooth melodic groove and assured vocals on the energetic cuts "State of the Heart" and "Headed for a Breakdown" are magnificent. And it goes without saying that Iris' soaring falsetto and the Cruisers' exuberant harmony vocals are found throughout No Muss...No Fuss."

Upon release of the album, Scene magazine writer Rosemary O'Brien reviewed the album in February 1985. She wrote "All albums have their good points, and they have their bad points. Donnie Iris' new album is no exception. Fortunately, this effort has more good points than bad ones. The first single, "Injured In The Game Of Love," has been receiving a considerable amount of airplay - and justifiably so. It's a good tune with a catchy beat. An even better song though is the opening track on the second side "Follow That Car." The refrain is infectious and the horn section adds that essential extra ingredient to the song. "10th Street" is another song that stands out on this album. It has a happy upbeat feel. Iris lets loose with his voice on "Headed For A Breakdown." He does it again at the end of "State Of The Heart," which at first reminded me of "Do You Compute?" This is where the bad points begin to pop up. "You're My Serenity" and "L.O.V.E.", which even had additional percussion added to it, both fall into the category of "run of the mill." It isn't that these songs aren't well done. It's just that they lack punch. On the whole, though, this is a good album. Iris' voice never sounded better, and the groups' harmonies are fantastic. It looks like the guy from Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania has put together a good collection of songs on this one."

In the Pittsburgh Press of February 17, 1985, writer Pete Bishop reviewed the album. He stated "Donnie Iris and the Cruisers have gotten more airplay than Nardini's crew, and "No Muss...No Fuss" has several candidates to net them still more. They're all on Side 2: smartly moving, horn-backed "Follow That Car" with its funky underpinnings; slower "Don't Cry Baby" with its big-production, "cast-of-thousands" sound, and "State of the Heart," which sounds like a faster "Head Games." Other cuts worth hearing are "10th Street," a longing to "go home again". "Headed for a Breakdown," and hard, funky "L.O.V.E.," which gets the toes tapping and shoulders swaying. Note "smartly moving" and "big-production." Those are Iris trademarks, and keyboardist-producer Mark Avsec uses both a lot. The Cruisers themselves are becoming a very solid band. Iris usually stays in his natural range rather than playing "The Man of 1,000 Voices" and frequently rips the words out of his throat, which is most uncharacteristic. His lyric themes often are the same as Bruce Springsteen's, although his imagery is less vivid, striking and poetic. And some of those lyrics are trite and stale; "Injured in the Game of Love's" are sickeningly cornball and contrived. But the music on "No Muss...No Fuss," a well-produced and well-performed LP, usually makes up for them."

Donnie Iris and the Cruisers

Additional musicians

Production

CD re-issue personnel