The times were starting to catch up with Sea Level on the band's third Capricorn album, On the Edge, released in 1978. The preceding year's sophomore release, Cats on the Coast, featured a seven-member band with Sea Level's original foursome of keyboardist Chuck Leavell, percussionist Jaimoe, bassist Lamar Williams, and guitarist Jimmy Nalls supplemented by newcomers singer/songwriter and saxophonist Randall Bramblett, guitarist Davis Causey, and drummer George Weaver. Jaimoe left prior to the recording of On the Edge (he would return to the Allman Brothers), and George Weaver also departed, replaced by Paul McCartney Wings drummer Joe English. Precise, forward-mixed rhythms intrude upon On the Edge, although blaming English would be unfair as Sea Level were apparently attempting to recalibrate for a disco-fied era when the airwaves preferred stayin'-alive street strutters to midnight riders. Just listen to the thumping beat on the Nalls-penned opening track, "Fifty-Four"; it's a fun, funky number but Leavell's sparkling piano can't truly soar when bound by such a rigid rhythm. Thankfully, the album includes several of Bramblett's finest songs to date, including "King Grand," "Living in a Dream," and "This Could Be the Worst" from his 1976 sophomore Polydor album, Light of the Night. And yet, these tracks are comparatively slick, the beats prominent in the mix, whereas the arrangements in the original Bramblett versions -- although full and multi-layered -- better served the songs and lyrics.

1		Sneakers (Fifty-Four)
2		King Grand
3		Living In a Dream
4		A Lotta Colada
5		This Could Be the Worst
6		Uptown Downtown
7		Electron Cold
8		On the Wing

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