On the first track, I hear a distinct Van Morrison theme. Its an acoustic rocker with a country twang of a melody. Although I like the organ in the background and the overall feel, it’s just a little too close to Brown Eyed Girl for my taste, from the sha na na’s to the breakdown, its too similar. Sorry Ritchie.
Raining in Hollywood has a very nice stripped down quality, simple chords , supported by a pedal steel, a very nice accompanying harmonica which really does paint a picture of a rainy night in L.A. Now this is more like it. Very emotional, I feel the pain of the main character- written from a perspective of so many discouraged artists who find the harsh realities of the strip.
The third number Gypsy Rose has a solid backbeat that really captures small east coast inner city nightclub vibe. I love the saxophone melody weaved through this tune; a ballad of the one night stand. The gritty guitar solo, is not too fancy and fits the song perfectly. In fact, i really like this song, the best on the album
The blues rocking Goodbye Cruel World is like a Fabulous Thunderbirds song and sounds like Peter Gun from the south;a solid texas blues rock number.
Most of the album is straightforward American blues rock and drives then we get to track 10, All Go Home And Play, which is an acoustic driven song with a catchy down home melody which is also quite enjoyable,.
Now, your hard pressed to find a song more upbeat than Now I KNow What Love Is. It is a big production with lively horns and a steady acoustic rhythm and a strong backbeat- nice backing vocals. Its another Van Morrison influenced number, but without any of the trappings of his work. Its a solid original sounding tune that wil get you moving. My second favorite on the album.
Toy Soldiers really caught my attention- the melody is really captivating. A very simple acoustic tune and the closing number is a song that has a celtic atmosphere at first, capturing a childlike innocence and then builds into a more somber rock tune with an epic build to a very solid closing number.
They vocal harmonies are very well suited-it builds up, then build down and end the way it started. A very well crafted song overall.
By and large , this is a good album, most of the instrumentation blended very well. His vocals are clean and well suited to the material although I do feel that he enunciates his syllables a little too much at times for my taste but perhaps I'm being too picky on that as I tend to like the rounded edges on my hard 'T's and 'R's.(Its probably from my days in choir when we were forced to sing 'Little Old Lady From Pasadena' by The Beach Boys and our teacher made us annunciate accelera-TOR instead of the much hipper accelera-der )
Although there are some misses here and there,this album mostly hits the mark for me and i will have it in my rotation for a while if that tells you anything. I do think it could have been mixed and mastered a little better but despite the few criticisms i have, i quite like the overall result. I would say if you like emotionally driven, hard rock and blues, this album by and large will satisfy.
3.5 out of 5 stars, with a side of awesome sauce for Gypsy Rose and Now I Know What Love Is.
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