On Rock N’ Roll Ride, songs like “Back in the Game” and “Born for This” feature the types of hooks and melodies that catapulted bassist/vocalist Jack Blades to stardom—and keep him in demand as a songwriter-for-hire. But what’s perhaps most impressive about this latest solo offering are his bass lines. Rich and warmly recorded, they dance around the chord progressions with nuanced rhythmic and melodic sensibility—the obvious result of years spent grooving like hell back in the ’70s with Rubicon, a vicious funk rock act featuring former Sly Stone band members. Rock N’ Roll Ride may be an unabashed AOR record, in the vein of Night Ranger and Damn Yankees, but Blades’ thumpin’ bass keeps the grooves percolating.