Laminar Flow is an album by the American musicianRoy Orbison.[2] It was recorded at Wishbone Recording Studio inMuscle Shoals, Alabama, and released on May 16, 1979, byAsylum Records.[3] It was the last album of new material Orbison would release in his lifetime. His next studio effort,In Dreams, featured re-recordings of old Orbison hits whileMystery Girl andKing of Hearts, his final collections of all-new material, were released posthumously. "Hound Dog Man" is a tribute toElvis Presley.[4]
TheLos Angeles Times called it "a collection of easy-listening pop that shows the Orbison pipes to be in glorious form."[9] Suggesting that while "it was a bit of a departure" from his sound,Billboard notes that "he still knows his way around a ballad as in 'Love is a Cold Wind', 'I Care', 'Poor Baby'."[10]
The Globe and Mail wrote that "Laminar Flow is a travesty: disco, fake disco and fake California rock form the backgrounds while poor Roy (who still sings well) flounders atop with absolutely no confidence."[11]
William Ruhlmann ofAllMusic notes that "'Easy Way Out' and 'Friday Night' "employ trendy disco beats, while 'Lay It Down' and 'Warm Spot Hot' settle for funk... Trying for different radio formats, 'Tears' is one of several contemporary-sounding ballads seemingly intended for adult contemporary radio."[5]
