Rise And Shine
	Produced by Adrian Belew
	Released on April 1988
	no chart information
	Find it at GEMM
IRSD-42139 cover [high resolution scan]

T he Bears roused themselves for a second album, Rise and Shine, with much the same results. This time around, however, individual members contribute their own material rather than writing as a group, which gives the record a little more variety. Not suprisingly, Belew emerges as the better songwriter, penning some of the album’s strongest tracks: “Old Fat Cadillac,” “The Best Laid Plans” and, with Rob Fetters, “Save Me.” The rest of the material is written by Fetters and Bob (aka “Robobo”) Nyswonger, with drummer Chris Arduser providing the ingratiating if simple “Little Blue River.” The Bears tend to play it safe most of the time, which results in a cuteness that can be a little stifling. Songs like “Aches and Pains” or “Not Worlds Apart,” for example, feed the suspicion that The Bears are little more than a minor band with a major talent (Belew). It’s likely that The Bears could have continued to record albums of occasionally warped pop music without suffering any lapse in quality, but it wouldn’t have added anything to what they’d already accomplished. If you enjoyed their debut, there’s nothing to suggest you won’t enjoy this effort as well. It’s not quite as contagious as their initial offering, but the goal remains the same. Of note, the compact disc adds a psychedelic version of “Man Behind the Curtain” and a slightly different version of “Figure It Out.” Belew returned to solo work after this album, while the remaining Bears resurfaced as The Raisins some years later with Belew as producer.

TRACK LISTING

1. ACHES AND PAINS    (Rob Fetters)    3:15
2. SAVE ME    (Adrian Belew/Rob Fetters)    3:40
3. ROBOBO'S BEEF    (Bob Nyswonger)    3:40
4. NOT WORLDS APART    (Bob Nyswonger)    3:31
5. NOBODY'S FOOL    (Adrian Belew/Rob Fetters/Bob Nyswonger)    2:55
6. HIGHWAY 2    (Chris Arduser/Adrian Belew/Rob Fetters/Bob Nyswonger)    0:50
7. LITTLE BLUE RIVER    (Chris Arduser)    3:01
8. RABBIT MANOR    (Bob Nyswonger)    2:47
9. HOLY MACK    (Adrian Belew/Rob Fetters)    3:19
10. COMPLICATED POTATOES    (Adrian Belew)    2:31
11. YOU CAN BUY FRIENDS    (Rob Fetters)    2:38
12. THE BEST LAID PLANS    (Adrian Belew)    2:58
13. OLD FAT CADILLAC    (Adrian Belew)    3:04
14. GIRL WITH CLOUDS    (Chris Arduser/Adrian Belew/Rob Fetters/Bob Nyswonger)    3:14
15. (*CD bonus track:) MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN (REVISITED)    (Adrian Belew/Rob Fetters/Bob Nyswonger)    4:09
16. (*CD bonus track:) FIGURE IT OUT    (Chris Arduser/Adrian Belew/Rob Fetters/Bob Nyswonger)    3:29
    
    All songs arranged by The Bears

CREDITS

CHRIS ARDUSER -- drums
ADRIAN BELEW -- guitar & vocals, remixing
ROB FETTERS -- guitar & vocals
BOB NYSWONGER -- bass
Bill Janssen -- saxophone
Rich Denhart -- engineer
Stan Hertzman, Ron Fajerstein, Bob Brigham -- executive producers

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